Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
by BlipBloop
Summary: Fuelled by feelings of weakness, Lucy leaves the guild with high hopes. Lucy gains new friends, including a sassy green eyed beast, an entire village of crazies, and a tough group of women. Inevitably, she also gains new enemies, such as a vicious woman who basically hates her guts. Plunged into this crazy world headfirst, will Lucy be able to return home? -Hiatus-
1. The Hard Part

Ch. 1 - The Hard Part

Lucy sighed as she walked quietly behind Team Natsu.

They had just finished a job. Natsu and Grey were arguing as usual, Erza was pulling that giant cart with things that they didn't really use, Happy was happily munching on a fish, and Lucy was just… thinking.

She realized a while back that she wasn't contributing to the Team as much as she wanted to. All she really did was distract the enemy. She was weak. She didn't help them fight and she just pulled them down.

As they neared the guild she made her decision.

"Luce!" Natsu's loud voice snapped her out of her thoughts. She looked up.

"Ehh…I forgot…" Natsu smiled cheekily and ran inside the guild, yelling at Gildarts that he got stronger and wanted to fight him.

He was on the ground in 2 seconds.

Lucy laughed half-heartedly and sat next to Levy.

"Lu-chan! How was your job?" Levy said cheerily.

"It went well, even though I didn't do much, as usual," Lucy replied, plastering a smile on her face.

"Oh. Well, that's alright! You're getting better with your magical powers, and you're getting stronger everyday!" Levy replied, nudging her arm.

"Yeah…" Lucy murmured back.

Levy looked at her strangely. "Are you okay, Lu-chan? Is something bothering you?"

Lucy avoided Levy's intense gaze and replied, "Nothing at all, Levy," grinning widely.

Levy didn't seem convinced, but decided to drop it saying, "If you need a friend, I'm here, okay?" She put a slim arm around Lucy's shoulders.

"Thanks Levy," Lucy replied smiling, but the light wasn't really reaching her eyes.

—

Lucy took a deep breath and pushed open the door to Master Makarov's office. There were so many papers on the desk you could barely see the balding head behind the desk.

"WHA - Oh, it's you, Lucy. What do you need?" he said, getting up from his chair to run around the table so she could see him. He gestured to an arm chair.

Lucy smiled sadly and brushed off some papers and sat down, crossing her legs. Master Makarov immediately sensed something wrong and was about to say something when Lucy suddenly said, "IwanttoleavetheguildsoIcangetstrongerMaster!"

Master Makarov was stunned. "What was that?" He wasn't sure he had heard properly. After all, Lucy loved this guild more then her own life.

Lucy took a deep breath. She forced herself to look into Master's eyes, surprised to see a flash of sadness and shock in them. She repeated herself, slowly this time. "I want to leave the guild. You see, Master, I realized some time ago that I'm no help to Team Natsu and I'm weak. I feel like I'm just slowing them down and that it would be better if I just left. I don't know how long I'll be gone for, but I wanted to leave so I can train and get stronger. This is my decision, and please accept my choice, Master." She bowed her head. When she looked up again, she was shocked to see his eyes watering.

"I see, child," he nodded his head. "There is no getting you out of this then, yes?"

She nodded firmly.

"Then we shall proceed in removing the Insigna," he said, turning to his desk.

She held out her hand and averted her eyes, unable to look at the scene about to play out before her. She felt a slight tingling sensation. Her eyes filled with tears as the sensation vanished. She forced herself to look at her right hand, now mark less.

Master Macarov broke the silence by saying, "There are three rules you need to follow if you are to leave Fairy Tail." Lucy nodded, unable to speak.

"One," he said, his eyes filling up with tears, "you must never reveal any sensitive information about Fairy Tail to outsiders, as long as you live."

"Hai," Lucy croaked, finally finding the words to speak.

Makarov nodded, then saying, "Two, you must never use the clients you met through the guild to achieve personal gain."

"H-hai," she replied, starting to cry harder.

"Three," he whispered, "though our paths may differ, you must always live you your lives with all your might. Never must you consider your own life to be insignificant," he said, adding, "and never, ever, in your lives must you forget the friends you held dear."

Lucy didn't even bother to respond and she kneeled down and hugged him tightly, tears streaming freely down her face. Master blinked back his tears and hugged her back, saying, "What do you want me to do about the others?"

"Don't tell them, please," she replied, drying her eyes, "because then, it would be too hard to leave. They'll find out soon enough."

Master nodded. "Okay then. Good bye, Lucy. I look forward to seeing you again, whenever that may be."

She nodded, pushing open the door and walking out. As soon as she walked out though, Natsu ran to her and said, "Hey Luce! What were you talking to master about?"

Lucy smiled weakly and replied, "Nothing, really."

Natsu looked at her strangely for a second. Lucy forced herself to smile, saying, "I'm kinda tired from our job, Natsu. I think I'm going to head home now, okay?"

Natsu looked at her once more before saying, "Oh. Okay then, bye Luce! See you tomorrow, then!"

"Yeah," she replied, turning away. "See you tomorrow."

Natsu watched her go around the guild as she said goodbye to everyone. It was somewhat strange, but the thought flew out of his head as he sensed Grey walking by and turned around to promptly punch him in the face.

—

When Lucy arrived to her apartment, she notified the landlady about her moving out.

She trudged up to her room, and began to pack her things. Then she sat down at her desk one last time and began to write.

_Dear Fairy Tail,_

_By the time you read this, I'll be far away. (Sorry about that cliché) Please don't try and find me, because I don't want to be found. _

_Team Natsu, I promise that it's not your fault that I'm gone, but I just think that I'm pulling you guys down and that I'm leeching off of your work. I barely do anything to contribute in the team. I'm going away to become stronger. I'm going to learn how to fight so I can once again be part of the group. Please don't blame yourself. I love you all so, so much. _

_Erza, you were like the older sister I never had. You taught me a lot. On the outside you're so strong, but inside you're a soft person, I swear. Please never change, eat your cake, and I love you. _

_Grey, you were like a brother to me. Don't go stripping in public, okay? I hope you learn to accept Juvia, and also, tell her that I'm not a love rival, heh. Thank you so much for all this time, and I love you. (In a friendship way, tell Juvia that)_

_Oh, Natsu. Where do I begin. You're not really a brother to me. You're my closest friend. You invited me into the guild. You gave me these wonderful memories and saved my butt a couple times too. You showed me that friendship is the key. Thank you, Natsu, for everything. I love you. _

_To Levy, Wendy, Carla, and to everyone else in the guild,_

_Thank you. I love you all. And Levy, I'll send you new chapters of my novel every month, okay? _

_Goodbye Fairy Tail. I'll see you later. _

**Author's note:**

**Hey! It's kinda sad right now but I promise it will get better. This is my first fan fiction EVER so I don't really know what to do now. Um. **

**Disclaimer? I don't own Fairy Tail. But maybe someday… Yeah, no haha. **

**Uhhhhhhhhh….. Review? It would help a lot with my already low self esteem XD. **

**\- jo**


	2. A long way to Go

Ch. 2 - A Long Way to Go

"Luce! Let's go fishing!" Natsu jumped through the window of Lucy's apartment, landing on her bed. "Luce?"

"Lushee! We were going to try and catch a big one today," said a certain blue neko, flying in after Natsu.

Natsu looked around the room, expecting to hear Lucy screaming at him to get out any second now…

Three…

Two…

One…

Nothing? Weird. Happy was by now flying around the apartment freely, looking for the blonde mage. Natsu then realized something very strange. Where was all the stuff? Her pink quilt was gone, her desk was cleared, and even the rug was missing.

Wait a second, there was a white rectangular shape on the desk. '_A secret compartment?'_ Natsu thought excitedly. Wait no, it was just an envelope. It had _'To Fairy Tail' _written in Lucy's neat handwriting on it. There were a couple of weird splotches on it. Kind of like little drops. Curious, Natsu opened the envelope and took out the neatly folded paper inside.

"Natsu!" Happy shouted, flying into the main room. "Lushee's not here!" When the blue neko did not hear a reply, he looked at Natsu and saw him sitting slumped in a chair, with a white piece of paper in his hand.

"Natsu?" Happy exclaimed worriedly. Happy inched forward, thinking that this behaviour was very strange, especially since Natsu was not one to just sit and think.

"Lucy's gone, Happy," Natsu whispered. Happy's wings disappeared and he landed on the ground. Happy started to laugh as he slowly padded up to Natsu.

"Stop joking, Natsu. Where is she?" Happy's laugh began to falter. "Natsu?"

Natsu's head snapped up and Happy was shocked to see Natsu's eyes dark and cloudy. Was he… crying? Natsu silently held out a the sheet of paper, now stained with Natsu's tears as well. Happy, with a trembling paw slowly reached out and grasped the paper.

As Happy read the letter his eyes filled up with tears as the letter fell to the ground.

"Let's go to the guild," Natsu muttered, a dark shadow covering his now emotionless face.

"A-aye…" Happy hiccuped.

—

The guild was in their normal state when they arrived; loud and cheery. Wakaba and Macao were being perverted as usual, and Lisanna and Mirajane were chatting by the counter.

As soon as Natsu arrived the Master stood up on the counter and hollered out, "OI! EVERYBODY SHUDDUP! I HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT TO MAKE!"

The guild immediately went silent. Macarov eyed Natsu as he sauntered through the door.

"I assume you know already, Natsu?" Macarov said stiffly. Natsu continued his silent walk to the counter where he handed Master the sheet of paper, now wrinkled. The guild went up in murmurs. Natsu was rarely seen quiet, so the guild already knew something was up. Natsu then retreated to a corner table, where he sat down, Happy flying to his side.

Everyone was silent, a rare occasion for this particular guild. "Master?" Levy said softly, cutting through the silence. "What happened? And," she added, "where's Lucy?"

Master Macarov stood stiffly on the counter. He began to speak. "As you all have probably noticed, Lucy is not here today. That is because she…" Master took a breath before finishing the sentence. "She has left the guild."

The guild was quiet before erupting into laughter. "T-that's crazy!" Macao sputtered.

"Yeah! Lucy loved this guild more then life itself!" Max cried.

Master stood on the counter and waited in silence for the laughter to die down, which it did as soon as it started.

"Master… you're serious…?"

As Master began to read the letter that Lucy left them, some of the guild members began to sob, while others retained a somber and grim face.

Natsu, however, didn't move from his spot. He just sat there, arms crossed, looking down at the floor.

They didn't even get to say goodbye.

—

Meanwhile, Lucy was boarding a train that headed anywhere but Magnolia. She boarded a train that was heading to a place called, 'Rimoro'. She had given all of her luggage to Virgo to temporarily store in the Spirit World, so she only had her keys and whip on her.

She didn't really have a place to go, let alone train. She looked out the window at the scenery flashing past her. Before she knew it, she was asleep.

_It was dark. The wind was howling a song of loneliness. Lucy ran. She didn't know why, or where she was running to. She just ran. _

_She heard voices behind her. "You're weak," one hissed. _

_"__You're nothing but scum that lies on the bottom of the ocean floor," another murmured._

_"__You just do nothing, and take advantage of your so called 'friends'," one uttered, this time right next to her ear. _

_"__Stop…" she mumbled. _

_"__Weakling." _

_"__Stop…" Lucy cried, her running slowing down. _

_"__Scum."_

_"__Parasite."_

_"__Stop!" Lucy screamed._

_"__Coward."_

_Lucy crumpled to the ground, clutching her head, trying to stop the voices from getting to her mind. But, no matter how much she tried to block them out, they would work their way through her fingers and invade her brain. _

_She heard a wail, an agonizing, excruciating scream filled with unspoken words of self-hatred and loneliness. She soon realized it was her own cry. The voices got louder and louder, shrieking words of disgust and loathe in her head. _

Lucy jumped in her seat, shaken by the extremely vivid dream that was now implanted into her mind. She rose from the train seat and made her way to the washroom, where she splashed her face with cold water several times. She strided back to her seat, and for the next eight days she sat there, completely lost in her thoughts.

— Time skip: 8 days —

— Rimoro —

Lucy was stumbled out of the train, groggy and tired. She couldn't help but notice she was the only soul getting off at this stop. "Where am I? Is this Rimoro?" she murmured.

She was surrounded by forestry, with a single gravel path leading down the centre of a thick, dense forest. She decided to trek down the path.

"My training begins here," she declared.

—

Hours later, she staggered into a small village. It took all of her willpower to not summon Horologium to carry her the way there.

"Uh… Excuse me?" she called timidly. A jet-black head of hair poked out of a clay house. He seemed to be about Lucy's age, and his features were sharp but handsome, in a way. His grey eyes looked stormy and his skin was tan. He was wearing a dark tunic with white cotton trousers.

"It's not often we get outsiders here. What do you want from us?" he said sharply.

Lucy, admittedly, was slightly taken aback by his harsh words, but decided then to stay polite. "Um… My name is Lucy. I'm only going to be here for a short period of time, so please let me stay the night in this village!" She bowed down.

She peeked back up again, and jumped about fifty meters into the air to discover that he happened to be right in her face… _smelling her hair?_

"KYAA!" she screamed, jumping backward. He seemed to disregard the whole fact of smelling her hair and pointed to a clay hut across from his.

"You may stay there. My sister stays in there, I'll introduce you," he said, turning away to walk to the hut. "Please excuse her… quirkiness."

_'__Look who's talking,' _Lucy thought. She followed him into the hut.

"Also, my name is Rimokoro Wobiso, but you can call me Rimo." he added as they were walking to the hut.

"Sakimo, I have an outsider who will be staying in your hut today," he called. A woman who bore a striking resemblance to Rimo emerged from behind some curtains. Her eyes, though, sparkled with joy. Her hair was cropped to fall right below her ears in wispy locks. She stood and stared at Lucy for a second, before grinning and offering Lucy a plate of some kind of food.

"This is Sakimo. She can't speak but she can hear," Rimo said before gliding out of the room. Lucy looked after him in mild interest, before accepting the plate of food and being guided to a table with chairs crafted out of stumps.

Sakimo sat across from her, and as Lucy hungrily ate she pushed a piece of paper toward Lucy. Lucy picked up the parchment and read, '_so what are you doing here, outsider? talk to me. tell me your story.' _

Lucy remained silent, suddenly losing the appetite to eat. Another paper was hurriedly pushed toward her.

_'__its okay. you can tell me when your ready.' _

Lucy nodded, and Sakimo smiled warmly.

—

Today was tiresome. Lucy had been introduced to many of the villagers, who all seemed to like smelling her bright hair and watching her summon Spirits. She was then shown a river, where she almost drowned when she attempted to bathe. Now, she was lying in a makeshift bed trying to get some rest.

_'__How am I going to train…' _she thought. _'I'll leave tomorrow to go into the forest,' _she decided. _'I'll train there. I'll stay there until I'm strong enough to fight Natsu even.' _she thought. _'Natsu…' _She pictured the child-like mage in her head. She shook her head violently. She forced the thought of Natsu out of her mind and then rolled to her side to sleep.


	3. Decent

Ch. 3 - Decent

Lucy had asked Sakimo to wake her up at dawn, but, apparently, Sakimo couldn't shake Lucy awake. Instead, Lucy was greeted with ice-cold water from the river poured on her face. After she had finished screaming, she glared at Sakimo, who's mouth was open in silent laughter. It was strange seeing a grown woman with her mouth wide open clutching her stomach. Lucy's face softened.

"Well, good morning to you too," Lucy grumbled, a failed attempt at acting angry. A piece of parchment was shoved in her face. _'_

_sorry, you just wouldn't wake up. i take it your not used to waking up this early?'_ The writing was wobbly and messy, as if she was shaking with laughter the whole time. _'I wonder why,' _Lucy thought.

"Well, that aside, thank's for waking me up. Goodness knows I'm definitely wide awake now," Lucy turned to Sakimo, who was still giggling.

Lucy got up and attached her keys to her belt "I'm planning on leaving soon, Sakimo. Thank you so much for all the hospitality."

She turned to Sakimo, who handed Lucy a dark brown canvas bag, filled with a various assortment of knives, daggers, and a small supply of food and water. There was one of Sakimo's notes laying on top. _'youd best stay by the river,' _it said,_ 'and those clothes are not fit for the forest. would you like me to lend you some of mine?' _

Lucy's heart warmed at how much thought Samkimo put into her safety. She shook her head. "It's okay Sakimo; I can just get some clothes from the Spirit World." Sakimo nodded.

Lucy summoned Virgo, Sakimo watching in awe of it all. "Is it time for punishment, princess?" Virgo said in her monotone way. Sakimo looked at Lucy, disbelieving.

"That's just a thing she says, Sakimo. Stop saying that, Virgo!"

"As you wish, princess."

"And stop calling me princess!"

"As you wish, princess." Lucy sighed. Sakimo giggled.

"Ugh, anyway Virgo, I need some clothes fit for the jungle. Can you get me some from the Spirit World?" Lucy said.

"Hai, princess. I'll be right back." Virgo disappeared in a poof of smoke, and appeared again holding some clothes. "Here you go, princess."

"Thank you, Virgo. You can go back now." she replied. Virgo bowed and then disappeared.

Sakimo had disappeared, probably to let Lucy have some privacy changing. Lucy shrugged and began to undress. She was only in her underwear and was bending down to pick up the clothes that Virgo got for her, when a certain somebody named Rimo walked in calling out, "Lucy? Sakimo said you needed m-" He was cut short when he saw a very half-dressed Lucy standing in the middle of the room. Lucy squeaked, her face heating up. After an awkward second of silence he whipped around, covering his eyes while apologizing profusely. His face was redder then a ripe tomato under his tan skin.

"SAKIMOOOO!" he screamed, as a red faced Lucy frantically put her clothes on. Sakimo came stumbling through the door, holding her stomach as she gasped in laughter. "I'll deal with you later," he mumbled to her and bolted through the door. Sakimo was rolling around on the dirt floor while gasping for air as she silently laughed.

"Sakimo?" Lucy hollered. "YOU PLANNED THIS?"

— Fairy Tail —

The guild was back at its normal state, filled with laughter and fights. Strangely enough, though, Grey and Natsu weren't arguing. In fact, ever since Lucy left Natsu had stopped fighting with Grey. He tried to be his usual chipper self, but deep down, everyone knew Lucy leaving had hit him the hardest.

Natsu was sitting at the counter drinking a flame flavoured milkshake, when Grey yelled loudly, "Oi, look everyone! Flame-brain over there is quiet for once!" It was an attempt to get Natsu back to normal, but he didn't even try and make a comeback.

Even Natsu himself didn't know why he was so heartbroken. On missions, he would destroy things more then normal, earning him is new nickname, 'The Reckless Salamander.' It made him feel better, a little bit. He knew Lucy was going to come back, but if he knew that, why was he so heartbroken? Lucy wasn't anything special to him, was she?

Everyone else in the guild was conveniently avoiding the topic of Lucy. Team Natsu, however, thought about her a lot. They regretted not telling her that she was an important asset to the team. She was the brains, after all, and the one who nursed them back to health after their missions if Wendy wasn't around. But now she was gone.

And had only been 5 days.

— Rimoro —

When Lucy left the hut, Rimo was nowhere to be found. With her brown canvas bag on her shoulder, she went about, visiting the villagers and bidding goodbye. Some gave her their exotic foods, which she ate for breakfast, savouring the taste.

Before she knew it, it was already mid morning. She finally found Sakimo, holding a basket of fruits on her hip, chatting with another villager. Was it just Lucy or did she look a bit… fearful upon seeing Lucy? Lucy had already forgiven her for her mistake, so why did she look so scared?

"What's wrong, Samiko?" Lucy prodded. "I'm only here to say goodbye."

Samiko hurriedly wrote something down on a crumpled peeve of paper, and handed it to Lucy's outstretched hand. '_nothing… you just look a little intimidating with your current attire.' _

Surprised and a little satisfied, she looked down for the first time at what Virgo had given her. She was wearing a warm leather jacket with a blank tank underneath. Her jeans were black and form fitting, but were actually comfortable. Lucy guessed it was because it was from the Spirit World. She was wearing black combat boots and, of course, her black belt with her brown pouch of keys with her Fleuve d'étoiles hanging by her side. Oh. It _did_ look a tad intimidating.

_'__its not really the same style as the clothes you were wearing when you got here.' _Sakimo wrote.

"Oh, yeah, that's right," Lucy said, " It's not really my style,"she continued, "but I think I can get used to this," she finished. She looked at Sakimo. "Well, anyway, about the Rimo event…"

Sakimo began to giggle uncontrollably. She pointed to Rimo, standing at the edge of the forest alone. She thanked Sakimo and hugged her quickly, bidding her farewell. Sakimo nodded and smiled warmly.

That girl had no shame.

Lucy braced herself and made her way to Rimo. When he turned to look at her, his face got slightly redder and he avoided her gaze. He coughed.

They stood in an awkward silence until they both spoke at the same time.

"Sorry about-" Rimo began.

"Thanks for wecom-" Lucy said.

Rimo coughed again and gestured toward her. Lucy cleared her throat before saying, "So… Thanks for welcoming me into Rimoro. You were really… uh… hospitable," she said, skillfully avoiding the previous _event._

Rimo nodded. She was about to awkwardly nod again when he said, "Sorry. About… you know. Before." Was it just her, or did his harshness toward her tone down a bit?

She felt her cheeks take up a pink tint when she mumbled, "Yeah… about that…" She continued, "Just… just don't go walking into people's houses, er, huts, without knocking, okay?"

She could have sworn she saw the corners of his lips turn up as he pointed to a nearby hut. She followed his finger and realized that the 'door' was made up of nothing but a thick curtain. She turned back to him quickly.

"Yeah, well, you can knock on the wall or something," she stated as-a-matter-of-factly.

He chuckled so quietly she could barely hear him. She felt something bubble up inside her, something she hadn't felt in a while. She laughed. Soon they were both laughing at the whole situation.

"Well… I guess this is goodbye," she said, almost regretting leaving.

Rimo looked away. She was just about to venture off when he pulled her into a rough, brief hug.

"Stay safe," he whispered into her ear.

She smiled and hugged him back. When they separated, she grinned and said, "I guess you're not as harsh and you let off." She thought she saw a blush before Sakimo bounded up to them, hugging Lucy once more. She slipped Lucy a note.

_'__you know, thats the first time ive seen you smile and laugh since you came here' _

Lucy raised an eyebrow. Sakimo grinned suggestively. Lucy laughed and said a heartfelt goodbye before walking away. She whirled around one last time and gave them a grin and a wave before disappearing into the forest.

After she left, Samiko looked at Rimo who was still staring after her. She nudged him and then grinned. Rimo looked confused for a second, then realization dawned of his face.

"No, Sakimo, I don't like her that way," he declared, before storming off in that angry way of his.

Sakimo smiled and skipped off to go tend to the crops.

— Rimoro Forest —

Lucy walked for miles, probably, following the river the whole way. Lucy decided that the first thing she needed to do was find shelter. She tried climbing up a tree, and after some thinking, she used her whip to hoist herself up onto a big broad branch. It took come strength, however, and she didn't have much of it at the moment. It took many failed attempts and some bruises before she finally made it up.

"Ugh," she murmured, "I'm pooped." She laid down on the branch or a while, falling asleep.

She woke hours later to a grumbling stomach. She didn't want to, but for the sake of her training decided to hunt for her food. She suddenly had a fabulous idea. She summoned Sagittarius.

"What can I do for you Miss Lucy, moshimoshi~" he said. He looked around, and upon seeing no particular enemies or threats, he turned to Lucy wondering what was going on. He was also slightly surprised at her sudden change of attire. "Is there anything you need, Lucy? Moshimoshi?" he repeated.

Lucy looked him in the eyes and declared, "Sagittarius, I want you to teach me how to shoot a bow."

Sagittarius looked slightly confused and inquired why.

"Because I don't want to depend on my spirits for everything," she said. Sagittarius smiled. What happened to the girl who depended on her spirits to carry her so she didn't have to walk?

"As you wish, Lucy," he replied. He disappeared and returned seconds later with a sleek black bow and a black quiver with some arrows inside. "These are from the Spirit World. Thus, the quiver has an infinite supply of arrows for your use, moshimoshi~"

Lucy gasped. "Thank you, Sagittarius!"

Sagittarius smiled and bowed quickly. Then he said, "If you don't mind, Miss Lucy, shall we get started?"

—

About four hours later she finally managed to snag a bunny for her lunch. Sagittarius was very patient and encouraging. He was also quite shocked at her determination. Even as her fingers were red and swollen from the string, and her arm was sore and tired, she still pressed on.

Before he went back, she thanked him profusely. It took some time of her to gut the poor bunny, but she said apologized to it before she did. Usually, she couldn't even look when raw meat was being prepared, but she forced herself to do it. She painstakingly made a fire and cooked the meat. She finally had her lunch an hour later.

Even though she was exhausted, she made herself run laps and to other various exercises to up her body strength. She even sat in the ice-cold river and meditated. At the end of the day, as she laid in her tree branch shivering in the darkness she thought about how hard it was to train. She knew she had quite a long way to go before she could go back.

She found herself thinking about Natsu. She wondered how he felt when he found out and if he was missing her as much as she was missing him. She missed him, uh, them, but she vowed not to ever go back to Fairy Tail until she decided she was strong enough.

**A/N:**

**Hi again! I'm so sorry for not updating in, like, 3 days. I wrote a longer chapter, please forgive me!**

** I think I'll most likely be updating on weekends and maybe Wednesdays and Fridays if I don't get a lot of hw. Just thought you guys should know. ^-^ And, before I forget, I don't own Fairy Tail. This is FanFiction must I even say this? Hahah, anyway, thanks for reading and please leave a review! Constructive Criticism is welcomed! **

**P.S. Please also leave a review telling me whether you want this to be a NaLu or a.. hm… what do I call this… a RiLu? Hahah. **

**-Jo **


	4. Reckless

Ch. 4 -

_— Fairy Tail — _

_—Time Skip: Approx. One Month — _

"Oi, Natsu!" Grey called.

"That's my name, don't wear it out Ice Princess," Natsu yelled. Grey almost stumbled back. Natsu said a _comeback._ They hadn't fought for a while, and Grey had a feeling it was going to get heated.

"Oh, yeah? I thought you earned a new alias recently," Grey muttered, pressing his forehead up on Natsu's.

"Shut up, ice-brain, at least I _have_ a nickname," Natsu shot back.

Grey grinned. "So you've been destroying more things lately, eh?" Grey continued. "Mister _Reckless Salamander_."

Natsu grinned back. "So? Sue me. It's only a nickname."

"Oh really?" Grey pressed on. "It's only a nickname, is it? Care to tell me about the reason why you've earned that nickname? Are you angry at Lucy for leaving you?"

Natsu's grin faltered and then faded. Grey knew he had had a nerve, that he had gone a tad too far. He knew Natsu was still hurting on the inside, unlike his physical acting on the outside. "Look, Natsu, she's gonna come back sooner or la-" Grey began.

"Shut up, Grey." Natsu walked away. No comeback, no fight, no nothing. He just walked away.

Natsu sat on a bar seat and Mirajane handed him a mug of fire. Natsu glanced up and looked at Mirajane, who was still suspiciously hanging around. She waved Lisanna over.

"So, Natsu," Mirajane began sweetly. "Are you, you know, still under the weather about the whole Lucy incident?"

"Ehh? Where did that come from?" Natsu replied in that child-like way of his.

"Yeah Natsu," Lisanna began, " You seem a little out of it lately," she said, with a sweet smile on her face.

Natsu's cheeks turned red. "Ehh? No way! I'm totally over it! She's gonna come back some day right?"

"Oh, really, because that fight with Grey over there," Mira pointed to Grey who was running from Juvia, "Just told me otherwise."

"N-nothing's wrong! It's just she was my best friend, that's all. I know she's going to come back; I believe in her!" Natsu stumbled over his words.

Lisanna and Mira grinned. "Is that so? You're still sad about her leaving, aren't you? Almost as if," Mira paused, "It's as if you _liked _her or something like that." She paused again, waiting for his response.

"Of course I like her! She's my best friend!" he replied, confused. Lisanna sighed and Mira pressed her fingertips to her temples. "Oi, Mira, you okay?" Natsu said.

"I'm trying to ask you to admit your undying love to Lucy!" Mira cried. Lisanna hurriedly covered her sister's mouth. By now, some of the guild members that were sitting nearby glanced at them, some eagerly awaiting his response.

Natsu laughed. "Gahahaha! I just said! Of course I love Lucy, she's my best friend!"

Lisanna and Mirajane both sighed at his denseness. Lisanna snapped her fingers. "I got it!" Mira looked at her excitedly, peeling Lisanna's hand off her mouth, which for some reason, was still there. "Okay, Natsu, listen carefully to this question alright?" she began.

"Ah," he grunted, drinking his fire-beer.

"Do you love Lucy like Alzack and Bisca love each other?" she leaned in closer.

Natsu sputtered out the fire-beer and it happened to land on Lisanna's face. Luckily, he had already absorbed the flames by then, so it was only hot beer splattering all over her face. Mirajane shook her head and handed her a towel while Natsu was vehemently denying any 'lovey-dovey type love' had for her.

"Of course not," he sputtered, "why would I like her that way!"

"The colour of your face tells me something different," came Lisanna's muffled reply from beneath the towel. Natsu realized his face _was_ feeling kinda warm. Huh.

"Woaah! My face is red! How did you do that?" Natsu exclaimed. He also felt his heart beating a little faster. "Oi, Lisanna! Mira! My heart is beating! Is that supposed to happen?"

Mira and Lisanna looked at each other in extreme disbelief. "You know what, Natsu?" Mira bagan disappointedly.

"You're just too dense to know what love is," Lisanna finished, before walking toward Elfman. Mira shook her head and turned to Levy.

Natsu sat there for a second, dumbfounded. _'Love?' _he thought. _'Are they saying I'm in love with Lucy?'_

"Oi, hot hands!" Grey hollered, snapping Natsu out of his 'lovey-dovey' thoughts.

"Whaddya want, stripper?" he called back.

"We're going on a job, so if you want to eat for the next few weeks you better get over here now, flame brain," Grey yelled back.

Erza turned around. "Come on, Natsu, we're going to be late for the train," she said with a glare.

"Aye, sir!" Natsu squeaked, going Happy-mode.

_— Rimoro Forest —_

Lucy stretched, yawning. It was dawn. Somehow, she managed to wake herself up at dawn everyday. She still sometimes had nightmares, and those were becoming more frequent.

She turned around, swinging her legs from the tree branch she was currently sleeping in. She was constantly travelling through the endless forest, so every night was a different tree branch. She didn't have to follow the river anymore, because she could always find her way back to it by following the smell of the river. Lucy chuckled under her breath. She thought of Natsu, and his strangely strong sense of smell. She frowned and shoved the thought out of her mind.

She jumped down from the tree, with her canvas bag and quiver on her shoulder and a knife in her boot. She carried her bow by hand. She followed the smell of the river and, when she found it, stripped and dived in. The water was ice-cold, but because she did this routine every day, she was used to it. After she finished, Lucy dried herself off and put her black clothing on again. She gathered her things and began to run at a steady pace, getting faster and faster. She grinned. Running was a piece of cake now, she could easily run 10 miles.

After she was done, she did a little bit of exercise, pushups and such. Next, she summoned Loke.

"Gate of the Lion, I open thee!" she said. "Loke!"

Loke appeared in a puff of smoke. "Why, hello, Love. I assume it's time for our daily combat?" he said, grinning.

Lucy grinned. "Hell yeah."

They fought for a couple hours, Loke stopping once to comment on how nice her hair looked that day.

After they were done, Lucy had managed to land some punches at his face and gut, and Loke, while reluctantly, got some punches to her stomach and face.

"Your combat is getting better everyday," Loke commented, pushing his glasses up. Lucy grinned. She sat down on a rock breathing heavily.

"Is it? Just how bad was I in the beginning?" she questioned.

Loke frowned. "I can't tell you that, because that would be insulting you. I can't insult the one I love, can I?"

"Was I that bad?" Lucy remarked.

Loke smiled. "Let's just focus on present now, shall we?"

Lucy laughed dryly. "Well, I'm hungry now. I'm going to go and hunt now, okay?"

Loke smiled, and disappeared.

Lucy waved as he disappeared and got out her celestial bow.

Ten minutes later, she spotted a rabbit. She slowly drew an arrow from her quiver, but suddenly the breeze changed. The rabbit smelled her and scampered away. "Crap," Lucy muttered.

She sat in the same spot for a couple more minutes. The rabbit scampered back out again. She closed her eyes, and visualized herself shooting it. Her eyes snapped open and she let the arrow fly.

Twenty minutes later, she was happily munching on her food sitting cross-legged in front of the fire she had created. Suddenly, she heard an aguished roar not so far away. She shoved the rest of her food in her mouth and quickly stamped out the fire. _'Damn,' _she thought, _'I didn't even get to fully enjoy my meal.' _ She got out another arrow, cautiously stepping forward.

She made her way to a clearing ahead, where she peeked through the trees and saw a heated battle between a giant cat-like thing. It looked like a panther, except 5 times bigger. It's shiny black fur was matted with blood in various places, and it's eyes were a bright green. It's opponent was an even bigger animal that resembled a monkey in a way. From what she could see, the monkey-thing was winning.

_'Don't do it,' _she thought. _'Don't involve yourself in a fight! You don't need to risk your life; it's only an animal that will probably eat you!' _Lucy looked at the ongoing brawl.

_'Crap,'_ she thought, as she aimed at the monkey. She shot.

Immediately after, she quickly summoned Loke for some backup. "Two summons in one day Lucy? I guess you do really want me," he said, flashing his glasses.

"In your dreams," she shouted out, running toward the beast. She whipped out her dagger and her whip.

Loke chucked as her ran behind her.

She snapped her whip out, and it extended and she got ahold of it's neck. She used that to swing herself around the beast and she landed come kicks to it's face, disorienting it before jumping off of it. She landed sideways on a tree for a millisecond, and then jumped back off gracefully, wrapping the whip around the creature's body.

She jumped back down onto the ground again and looked into the beast's tiny grey eyes. It was full of fear. She lightly kicked it's face once more, and said, "Oi, you there, you better not bully anymore of those cat things anymore," she murmured. "Or else _I _will come find you." It seemed to understand her, because it nodded fearfully. Lucy retracted her whip and fastened it back to her belt, watching as the giant monkey scampered away.

"Well, it seems you didn't need my help at all," Loke said, appearing next to her. "I'm proud of you!"

Lucy was almost taken aback, because he actually sounded genuine for a second there. "Actually?" she said.

"Of course," he replied. "Now how about a celebratory kiss, if you may," he said, leaning in closer. Lucy leaned back and pouched his face away.

"Uh, no. You can go back now." Lucy smirked as he dissipated into the air.

She was about to turn around to leave when she heard a low growl coming from behind her. _'Damn,'_ she thought. _'I forgot about that cat.'_

She turned around and came face to face with large green eyes. She backed up slowly, but, of course, there had to be a large boulder away from her exit. She flattened herself against the boulder as much as humbly possible. The cat thing was kinda cute, in a I'm-going-to-turn-you-inside-out kinda way. She didn't want to hurt it anymore then it was already. Stupid emotions.

The giant panther seemed to look into her eyes, before opening it's mouth. She couldn't help but notice that it was filled with razor-sharp teeth that put all her daggers to shame.

_'Oh, crap,' _Lucy thought.

**A/N:**

**Oh gosh, I am so sorry for putting a cliffhanger in there, but it had to be done eventually. Eh hehe. I wanted to try, plus it seemed like a good place to stop. And also the fact that I was in the middle of doing my homework when I decided to write this. My attention span is that of a fly. Anyway, thanks for reading and please leave a review about this chapter! **

**P.S. also tell me if you want it to be a RiLu or NaLu. Thanks! **

**Oh yeah I almost published with out saying I don't on Fairy Tail. Lol**

**-Jo**


	5. Glowing Green Eyes

Ch. 5 - Glowing Green Eyes

—

**_Recap: _**

**The giant panther seemed to look into her eyes, before opening it's mouth. She couldn't help but notice that it was filled with razor-sharp teeth that put all her daggers to shame. **

**_'_****_Oh, crap,' _****Lucy thought. **

_—_

_'__Oh, crap,' _Lucy thought, squeezing her eyes shut. She braced herself for the pain.

It's roar was the loudest, most thunderous roar Lucy had ever heard compared to anything else she had ever fought in this particular jungle. And she had fought many things this past month.

It's fangs were half the size of her head. _'How was it losing to the monkey thing? It looks pretty damn strong to me,'_ Lucy wondered, despite the current situation.

She waited for the pain to come.

Any second now…

No?

Instead of fangs sinking in her skull, giving her an inevitable death, instead she heard a shuffling noise. She cracked an eye open. She opened her eyes just in time to see it limp into the forest. It slinked away, no doubt painfully. After that roar to the face, she didn't really feel like going after it. Lucy turned away biting her lip.

She looked up at the sky, dusted with bright stars across the dark blue sky. Was it nightfall already? Lucy gathered some twigs and created a small fire, deciding to stay in the clearing. She fell back into her daily routine, sitting crosslegged on the forest floor and meditating. She sat there focusing on the sounds of nature. A fly buzzed. A woodpecker pecked at a tree, probably a couple kilometres away. Something near her snapped. Wait… something snapped?

_Snap. _

Quick as a flash, Lucy had her dagger out, and jumped up gracefully into a battle stance. Her eyes swept across the vicinity, and the quickly spotted a pair of glowing green eyes. They looked slightly… _familiar. _A low growl emitted from the direction of the eyes.

_'__Oh,' _Lucy realized, still standing in her battle stance. _'Um.'_

She suddenly had a fabulous idea. She almost snapped her fingers, but decided better of it. It was a somewhat dangerous idea, but fabulousness was more important then safety. Sometimes. Maybe. Probably not, but whatever.

Slowly and cautiously, Lucy reached down to her canvas bag. She stuck a slim hand inside, and, keeping her eyes on the giant panther thing, felt around until she found what she was looking for.

She took the bundle out slowly and carefully unwrapped it. Turns out it was much more difficult to do this with only one hand and not looking.

She finally unwrapped the bundle to reveal a piece of a cooked leftover duck she had roasted a couple days ago, which she forgot about. She drew her hand back and gently chucked it toward the beast. _'Maybe it will just take the meat and go away now,' _she thought. _'Or it could see me as a source of food and try to eat me, but I could probably take it down, given the condition it's in right now.' _

The emerald eyes snapped to the meat, then, quick as ever, looked back up at her and then looked at the dagger she was holding. Lucy grimaced. _'Smart,' _she thought.

Slowly she extended the dagger out to her side, letting it dangle from her fingers before dropping it and kicking it away.

Almost instantaneously, it's eyes went from narrow and 'I-am-a-predator-and-you-are-the-prey look to wide and curious. It was kind of cute, actually. Nevertheless, the kept her battle stance ready, and put her hands over her pouch of keys incase it decided to pounce on her.

The beast moved forward, slow and graceful. It was beautiful, actually. It's big green eyes and dilated pupils contrasted against it's silky fur. Even though it still had some wounds from earlier and if it was limping, it was still magnificent. It also looked _very_ tired.

It snatched up the food and swallowed it whole. It gazed at her once again. Lucy gulped.

It, thankfully, turned away. She could probably fight it and win, but it wasn't really a fair fight, considering how beat up it was.

It started to slink away, and right when Lucy was about to sigh with relief, she heard a thump.

The giant panther had collapsed.

Forgetting any fear she had once held for the beast, she grabbed her bag and her dagger and was by it's side in a flash.

She grabbed a casket of water from her bag and hurriedly washes the wounds on it's body. She wiped them with a spare shirt she had in her bag.

She then inspected the paw that caused the cat to collapse. It was about the size of her torso. Well then. There goes the water.

She washed it gently with all the water she had left and wrapped it up hastily with a roll of bandages she had in her bag. (Compliments of Sakimo.) She almost had to use the whole roll the wrap it's paw. Also, in the process, she realized it was a male.

The whole time, he was watching Lucy with interest in his emerald eyes. About an hour later she was finished, and she stepped back and admired her handiwork.

She stood there for a second, wondering, _'Oh man. What am I supposed to do now?'_ Lucy thought for a minute, and then settled on just leaving it there. God knows she couldn't move it.

Luckily, he was laying right below this nice tree branch Lucy could spend the night on. She backed toward the now sputtering fire still keeping her eyes on him. She killed the fire with a handful of sand.

She walked back to the animal and whisked out her whip. She hoisted herself easily onto the tree branch. _'Doing this every day does make it easier,'_ she thought, amused. She looked her bag and her bow off her shoulders and laid it next to her quiver of magically replenishing arrows. Her dagger always stayed in her boot and her whip on her belt, though. One can never be too careful.

She stretched out, thinking that trees were now quite comfortable to her. She glanced down at the black animal laying below her and heard it breathing evenly.

She settled back down, using her canvas bag as a pillow. She was soon immersed in her thoughts.

_'__Natsu…' _she thought. Every night, almost as if it was part of her routine, she thought about Natsu. She missed everybody else too, of course, but she always thought about Natsu. She missed him more then anything else.

She was snapped out of her thoughts when the beast below her shifted.

Her last thought before dozing off to sleep was, _'Why the hell do I even care about this stupid cat anyway…' _

_—__Magnolia—_

_—__Natsu's home— _

In the midst of his cluttered house, Natsu was stretched out on his hammock, trying to imagine that it was Lucy's bed in her previous apartment. Giving up, he sat up on his hammock, folding his arms behind his head. He stared out the window, watching the night sky.

"Natsu?" a tiny voice asked.

"Yeah, Happy?" Natsu replied distractedly.

Happy awkwardly shuffled his paws before asking, almost hesitantly, "Do you miss Lushee?"

Natsu turned around to face the blue Exceed.

"Yeah," he muttered. "More then anything," he added under his breath.

"Then," Happy began, "If you know she's coming back, why do you miss her so much? I mean, we all miss her, but you're the only one still showing it. Why?" he asked quietly.

Natsu sighed, turning away. "I dunno, Happy," he replied. "I just… miss her."

Happy sighed, flying up to the hammock to sit beside Natsu.

"Oi, Happy?" Natsu murmured.

"Mhm?"

"Do you miss her as much as I do?"

Happy paused for a second before responding. "I think you miss her the most because she was more then a friend to you."

Natsu sighed again. "How do _you_ think I feel about her, Happy? Give me an honest answer."

Happy looked up at Natsu. "You hafta figure that out for yourself, Natsu," he replied softly.

Natsu gazed out the window. "I know, Happy," he closed his eyes. "I just _don't_ know at the same time." He looked down.

Happy curled up next to Natsu. "You'll figure it out, Natsu," he repeated, before falling alseep.

"Ah." Natsu closed his eyes and tried to once again imagine he was lying in Lucy's previous apartment.

_'__Lucy…'_

_—__Rimoro Village—_

_—__Earlier that day—_

"Sakimo, I think I'm going to go hunt…" Rimo said to his sister.

Sakimo raised an eyebrow. _'you went hunting yesterday. and lucy is probably really deep into the forest already, you won't be able to find her, you know. rimoro forest is practically endless." _Sakimo wrote, smirking.

Rimo's fierce eyes locked with Sakimo's mischievous ones. "I'm not going to look for her," he insisted.

Sakimo grinned and shrugged, turning back to the vegetables she was chopping up. She waited, counting down the seconds with her tan fingers.

3…

2…

1…

"I think we're low on berries. Are we low on berries? I think we are. I should go get some more, hey? I'll go thi-" He was cut of by a piece of paper shoved in his face.

_'__rimo, only the children go berry picking. besides, they went this morning,'_ it said. A second note was thrusted on top. _'i am telling you, lucy is fine. she is a very determined woman!'_

Rimo gave his sister a killer glare, one that anybody in the village would be frightened by. His sister, however, stood, unfazed. Intsead, yet another note is shoved in his face. There, in neat handwriting and horrible grammar, were the fateful words.

_'__i can see why you liiiike her.' _Rimo lowered the note to see a smirking Sakimo. There was really only one thing he could think to say.

"Rolling your tongue doesn't work when you write it," he snapped, before storming out of the house. Seconds later she heard him yelling at the children of the village to not play in front of the huts.

Sakimo turned back to her vegetables, smiling. She greatly enjoyed tormenting her brother.

_—__Rimoro Forest—_

_—__The next day—_

Lucy woke with a start, sweating and panting hard. She could never remember the dreams she had, but she always knew they were vivid and chilling. They were more like nightmares, actually. Shaking her head, she put her bow and quiver on her shoulders and grabbed her bag. Before she jumped down, she craned her neck to see if the beast was still there.

All she saw was the flattened vegetation.

She shrugged, _'Eh. I don't care anyway.' _Deep down, however, she wondered where it was off to so early. It couldn't have healed that fast, right?

"Meh," she murmured, before jumping down lightly from the high tree branch and heading to the river.

As usual, she stripped down and dived into the river, receiving an ice-cold wake up call. Deciding wearing the same thing for a month was a little gross, she summoned Virgo.

"Is it time for punishment, Princess?" Virgo said, as she appeared out of the settling dust.

Lucy groaned. "Don't say that, Virgo!"

"I am terribly sorry, Princess. Please punish me," she requested.

"No!" Lucy yelled. "I actually just need more clothes. I've been wearing the same ones for the whole month and it's a bit disgusting, considering I never wash them."

"Hai Princess, I will return shortly," Virgo replied, disappearing. Lucy swam around while she waited. Virgo popped back on the riverbank again. Holding a pile of neatly folded clothes. "Clothes, Princess. It is going to be fall soon, so I am giving you warmer clothes. Black, as usual."

"Thank you, Virgo," Lucy said happily, getting out of the water and sending her back with the old clothes. She kept the boots and belt, though. She dried herself off and slipped into the clothes.

She was now wearing a tight-fitting black top and black jeans, a different style from the previous one. Virgo had also given her a big black flowy cloak. It had a high collar and was thick and warm. However, it wasn't too cold yet, so she folded it up and shoved it in her bag, in which it magically fit. She had also gotten a thin black sweater with a large hood, big enough to hide her face with. It was loose too, and very comfortable. Lucy smiled with satisfaction and gathered her things. She began her morning run.

Lucy was dodging trees and hopping over roots that stuck out from the ground when a big black thing jumped in her path, about 5 meters in front of her. She instinctively got out her whip and stood in her battle stance.

"You again?" she remarked. It healed surprisingly quickly, despite her hastily applied bandages. Was that a… a fox in it's mouth?

They stood there for a while, just staring at each other. "I can do this all day," she murmured to him. The beast seemed to sigh impatiently and it's eyes flicked toward the whip she held in her hand.

Lucy, deciding he was safe enough, clipped it back onto her belt and held bother her hands up, showing him that there was nothing to be afraid of. It's eyes seemed to soften and he slowly walked toward her, not even making a sound. He kept walking until he was a little less then a foot away from her. The fox dropped from his colossal jaws. It fell at her feet. She looked down at the offering. She looked back up at the beast, his large eyes staring at her expectantly.

_'__I wonder what would happen if I just…' _Lucy extended a hand. Steadily, she reached out until her hand made contact with it's velvet fur. She stroked it for a second, in awe at how silky and soft it felt.

Suddenly, it backed up, and gazed expectantly at the meal lying at her feet. It looked at her. Lucy grinned, picking up the fox.

"Let's name you Emerald."

**A/N:**

**I'm not kidding to say that this chapter took a while for me to put into words and such. I didn't want to put this off any longer too. **

**Also, I'm sorry about the cliché. Like, you know, she saves an animal from a horrible death and they become companions. I wanted her to have a non-spiritual friend. ;A; Hahahah. **

**Anyway, thank you so much for reading!**

**Do you think we can get to 25 reviews in total before I upload the next chapter? **

**EVERY BODY SAY, 'YEAAAH' **

***cricket noises* Ohwell ;-;**

**Anyway, thank you for being here for me! Adnd I don't own Fairy Tail. **

**R****eview! (please.) Lol. I need the feedback! Feedback is good. Yas.**

**-Jo**

**Also if anyone is wondering how big Emerald is ****compared to Lucy, it's about as big as the wolf in Princess Mononoke. If you haven't seen it I suggest watching it. :D**


	6. Emerald

Ch. 6 - Emerald

—

**_Recap: _**

**Lucy grinned, picking up the fox. **

**"****Let's name you Emerald."**

—

Lucy was just itching to do something. _Something. _Instead she was eating. She didn't do her 100 stomach crunches, or her 250 (and counting) push ups. She was instead eating.

Lucy's eye twitched irritably. "You know what," she announced to Emerald. "Sorry Emer, but, I just gotta do something." She threw the rest of the fox at Emerald, who caught it with his mouth and swallowed it. He got into a sitting position, and cocked his massive head.

"Gate of the Lion, I summon thee!" She cried. "Loke!"

Loke appeared. "You know, Lucy, I've been thinking of asking you to di-" He stopped short when he spotted the giant black panther, tense at the sudden appearance of another being. "Lucy," he whispered. "Look behind you!"

"Yeah, I know," she said loudly. Loke jumped a little. "I named him Emerald," she dismissed with a flap of her hand.

"You _named_ it?" Loke asked, surprised.

"Mhm," she murmered. "And he's not an _it. _His name is Emerald," she snapped. Loke held both his hands up, backing away. "Go say hi."

Loke bristled. "I don't think I should-" He was cut of again by Lucy pointing at the poised cat and looking expactantly at him.

"Fine," he muttered.

He slowly approached Emerald, who looked ready to strike.

"Put your hand in a fist and let him smell it," Lucy instructed, inspecting her nails.

Loke hesitantly did so, and the cat moved toward him and sniffed Loke. Loke eyed Emerald suspiciously, and Emerald's eyes narrowed. Deciding Loke was not a possible meal, Emerald turned and trotted away, flopping down on a bush and probably crushing it as well. Emerald started to doze off as Loke breathed a sigh of relief.

Lucy smirked. "See? It wasn't so hard, now was it?"

"Easy for you to say, darling," Loke replied. "Now," he said, straightening up. "Shall we begin?"

Lucy punched him in the face, catching Loke off guard. "It's already begun," she responded. Loke grinned and dodged a kick to his gut.

—

Loke rubbed his face, panting. "You've improved greatly," he panted.

Lucy smiled. "Only because I have such a great teacher," she responded, rubbing her shin where Loke had got her.

"Oh? Was that a compliment?" He grinned. "Are you finally opening up to the love I possess for you?"

Lucy laughed dryly. "Okay, you're going back now. Bye now," she said, waving his key. Loke smiled and waved, disappearing into the cloud.

Lucy got up from the ground and stretched her sore muscles. Right about now she would go for a run, but she didn't know what to do about Emerald.

He got up and sat patiently, waiting for her. Lucy shrugged.

"I'm going running," she said. _'Am I talking to an animal? I should get out of the forest and get some human interaction,'_ she thought, shaking her head.

She gathered up her bow and arrow and put her bag over her shoulder. She looked back at the massive animal standing behind her. Lucy shrugged carelessly and took off.

It felt good to run. The wind was blowing in her ears and she could feel the blood pulsing through her system. Her hair, which she should really cut, actually, flew behind her as she gained speed. Wait a second.

What was it she sensed behind her?

She turned around. Lo and behold, there was Emerald. _Right behind her. _

_'__Oh, crap,'_ thought Lucy as it's colossal jaws somehow clamped around her waist.

"I KNEW I shouldn't have trusted this stupid feline!" Lucy shouted, despite the situation at hand.

For some reason, though, it wasn't chowing down on her. Instead it's head snapped up and threw her high into the air.

As much as Lucy tried not to, she screamed.

She stopped short of her screaming when, thankfully, a vine came out of nowhere and wrapped itself around her waist. Wait a second… The _vine_ wrapped _itself_ around her?

_'__Don't tell me…'_ She glanced down at what the thing was and saw, instead, black fur.

_'__Oh, cr-'_ She didn't get to finish her thought before she was falling again. She landed on something soft.

"What the hell…"

She started to laugh. For the first time in a month, she laughed. Why?

Because, well, she was riding Emerald.

She heard a satisfactory snort from Emerald and she felt her newfound ride speed up considerably.

"Kya!" Lucy squeaked, almost falling off. She used all of her leg strength to try to hold herself on.

When she finally felt stable again, she leaned forward and buried her hands into Emerald's thick velvet fur.

"Whoa…" She breathed.

She watched the trees blur past her and she felt the rush of adrenaline go through her system, even though she wasn't the one running. She was fast, yeah, but nothing was _this_ fast.

Being fast and all was one thing, but the ride was also astonishingly smooth. There was barely a bump, and even though the forest floor was covered in roots and shrubs Emerald didn't seem to trip or falter in any step he took.

To sum it up, it was awesome.

She saw the bright green eyes look in her direction. She grinned.

"I hope you don't mind if I try this one thing…" She leaned slightly to the right. Emerald moved slightly to the right, seemingly getting what she was going at.

She continued to maneuver her way around the forest, and before she knew it, she had reached her destination.

The river.

Emerald stopped gracefully. Lucy hopped off and slashed her flushed face with the icy water.

She looked into the curious jade eyes. Actually, she looked _up_ into Emerald's eyes.

Lucy giggled. She _giggled._ That was something she hadn't done in a while.

"You know what, Emerald," she said, staring at the rushing water.

Emerald flopped down on the riverbank and gazed at her expectantly.

Lucy grinned. "You're pretty damn amazing."

_—__Fairy Tail—_

_—__Timeskip: Two months—_

Natsu, Grey, and Erza sauntered through the doors.

Mirajane looked up from the counter. "Hey guys!" She greeted them cheerfully. "How was your job?"

Erza sat down on a counter seat. She pressed her fingertips to her temples.

"We failed it," she stated bluntly.

Mira almost stumbled back. Team Natsu had failed a job?

No. Way. That hadn't happened in months!

Mira smiled, trying to lighten the situation. "Wasn't it that group of bandits in Yolani? The city that's about… two weeks by train away? They were, like, stealing from wealthy people or something?"

Ezra nodded.

"Well, what happened?"

Ezra's eyes darkened. "They slipped through our fingers."

Mira blinked. "Eh?"

Erza sighed. "They were in the train with us. Natsu was motion sick, and so he couldn't do anything. It was just Grey."

"What happened to you?" Mira wondered.

Erza sighed again. "I was sleeping."

Mira almost started laughing, but thought of her safety and stopped herself.

Meanwhile, Grey was getting treatment done by Wendy. Which, unfortunately, means he had to sit still. Which also meant that Juvia could come interrogate him.

"Grey-sama!" She squealed. "Juvia will go and get revenge on those bandits for you!"

"I don't need revenge," Grey muttered.

"Juvia will not tolerate anyone who hurts Grey-sama…" She said darkly.

"H-hey now," Grey said. Grey looked around the room.

"Oi, Mister Reckless Salamander!" He yelled.

"Yeah, Ice Princess?" Natsu called back. Natsu was standing in the doorway.

"Where you goin? We just got back!" Grey asked.

Natsu shrugged. "I'm just gonna head home. I'm kinda tired," he said, before turning around and strolling away. "Happy! Let's go!"

"Aye, sir!" Happy called, tearing himself away from Carla.

Five minutes later, they were wandering the streets of Magnolia.

"Hey, Natsu?" Happy asked.

"Yeah, Happy?"

"Are you mad about not completing the job?"

Natsu guffawed. "No way!" He hooted. "We're gonna crush the next one we take on, right Happy?"

"Aye!"

Natsu stopped suddenly, causing Happy to bump into him.

"Natsu?" Happy questioned. He peeked around Natsu's head. He saw a bright head of blonde hair duck into the bookstore.

"Lucy," Natsu breathed, taking off toward the bookstore entrance.

"Natsu! Wait!" Happy yelled alarmingly. "You can't just jump to conclusions!"

Happy quickly flew to the bookstore entrance. He was about to enter when Natsu stepped out quietly.

"Was it her?" Happy asked excitedly.

Natsu shook his head. "I went in there and I knew it wasn't her. It wasn't her scent."

"Oh…" Happy said.

Natsu laughed suddenly. "S'okay, Happy! She's gonna come back! She's gonna come back real soon!" Natsu said cheerfully. He turned and strode away, leaving an astonished Happy behind. _'She's gonna come back… She has to…' _

_—__Rimoro Forest—_

"Ugh," Lucy grunted to Emerald. She grabbed her black cloak and pulled the hood up. "It's getting colder everyday now, isn't it Emer?"

Lucy twirled in her cloak. "So?" she said. "What do you think?"

Emerald nodded approvingly.

Lucy grinned. Just wearing this cloak made her feel somewhat badass.

Emerald rolled his eyes, jerking his head toward his back. Lucy laughed. "Okay, okay! Let's go," she said, climbing up onto his back.

They were just doing their thing in their forest when Lucy smelled smoke. Somebody made a fire? Somebody was here?

Lucy stopped Emerald. "Go climb up a tree or something," she whispered. "I'm going to go investigate. I'll call you when I need you." Emerald nodded and disappeared.

Lucy climbed to the top of a tree. She hopped from tree to tree silently, following the smell of the smoke. As she neared it, she heard voices. From what she could tell, they were rejoicing about something. She finally got to a tree that was close enough to eavesdrop.

"Man," one said. A male voice. "I'm so glad we got away from those stupid wizards! With that 900 000 jewels that we stole too"

A female voice, high pitched and snobby sounding, cackled annoyingly with laughter. "I know right! That dumb ice mage, though. It was as if he lost the will to fight! And both his teammates weren't doin anything!"

Both voices screamed with laughter, along with a bunch more. 9 more people, at the most.

Lucy's eye twitched. She _hated_ this type of people. She had do do something about this bunch.

They were turned away from her at the moment, so she chose this time to approach them. How? By scaring their sorry asses off.

She jumped down gracefully and silently from the tree.

"You know, I hate people who steal things," Lucy said, putting emphasis on 'hate'.

The group jumped, but quickly regained their posture. "Well, well, well," the male voice she heard earlier said. A tall man stepped out, probably the leader. "What do we have here?"

A stout woman with frizzy hair stood beside him. "Get outta here, blondie," she barked. "This is our territory." Lucy matched the female voice from earlier to this woman. She got out her whip.

"Oh, really now? Because you see," she remarked, "Emerald and I have been living in this forest for a handful of months. I hardly think this is your so called, 'territory'," Lucy finished coldly.

The male laughed. "Just who is this Emerald? Your imaginary friend?" The rest of the group hooted with laughter.

Their laughter was interrupted by a low, menacing growl coming from the bushes behind Lucy. Emerald stepped out, and Lucy smirked.

"Does this look imaginary to you?"

The leader was in awe of the giant beast. He quickly composed himself. "We could take you and your cat on anytime, blondie."

Lucy laughed coldly. She flicked out three keys from her leather pouch. Seconds later, three spirits surrounded her. "Let me introduce you to Loke, Taurus, and Cancer, then."

Standing together, they all looked pretty intimidating.

The leader chuckled. He drew a long sword. "Come," he sneered.

—

Lucy flopped down on the ground. "Damn, those guys were more difficult then they looked," she remarked.

"Hm, I'm surprised that you summoned all three of us at the same time," Loke commented.

"Yeah, well, I'm gonna go empty on magic power soon, so bye!" She closed Loke, Taurus, and Cancer's gates.

Emerald was resting on the ground. "What am I supposed to do with these idiots," she pondered, kicking one of their unconscious bodies. Shrugging, she tied them all together and began going through their stuff. Nothing really was of use to her.

She was almost done until she noticed a large sack. Curiously she untied it and peeked inside. 900 000 jewels glinted in the sunlight.

"What am I supposed to do with this money?" she cried.

Emerald grunted, looking at her expectantly.

"Oh, what are you looking at?" She said back, looking down at the jewels. Emerald grunted again. Realization dawned on Lucy's face.

"Oh, no."

Emerald nodded.

"You aren't thinking-" Lucy started. Emerald nodded. Why was this stupid feline so smart?

Lucy grimaced. She was gonna have to go to Rimoro Village.

**A/N:**

**Sorry for the wait! **

**A lot of stuff has happened recently, and I don't really feel comfortable talking about it. Long story short, I didn't have time to write. I've been itching to write this chapter for days! But it's longer, so I hope you all can forgive me! **

**Thanks for 25 reviews though! I didn't actually think I would get that lol. THANK YOU! I'm thrilled. And Happy Halloween! **

**35 reviews for a faster update? **

**Please? **

**Heh. **

**Oh, crap, it's midnight.**

**-Jo**


	7. Awkward

THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO MATTHEW ELLIOT AND JOYCE'S SOMEWHAT BLOOMING RELATIONSHIP (S.B.R.)

Ch. 7 - 3 Months of No Human Interaction = Awkwardness

—

**_Recap: _**

**Realization dawned on Lucy's face. **

**"****Oh, no."**

**Emerald nodded. **

**"****You aren't thinking-" Lucy started. Emerald nodded. Why was this stupid feline so smart? **

**Lucy grimaced. She was gonna have to go to Rimoro Village.**

—

"Gate of the Compass, I summon thee!" Lucy cried. "Pixis!"

The bright red bird materialized. "Hello, Lucy! How can I assist you?" Pixis squawked.

Lucy smiled. "Can you show me the way to Rimoro Village, please?" Pixis smiled widely and began to spin, and eventually came to a stop, pointing Southeast.

"Rimoro Village is directly this way," it squeaked. Lucy nodded and thanked the compass bird. She closed the gate. She looked up into the thick foliage.

"Emer?" She called. Emerald, resting in a tree just above Lucy, leaped down and stationed himself in front of her. Lucy pointed Southeast. "We're gonna have to go that way," she directed. "And," she added, "You're also gonna have to carry those bandits as well. We're gonna drop them off there too, so the villagers can bring them to the train station and then they can be jailed."

Emerald, being the sass king, rolled his eyes and laid down so Lucy could have somewhat easier access onto his back.

"After all, we can't just leave them here," she continued. She threw the still unconscious bandits onto his back, deciding she didn't really care if they fell off or not, but still tying them down anyway. Lucy climbed on and patted his back fondly. "Don't forget," Lucy teased, "You were the one who suggested this!"

The cat snorted and took off.

As they cut through the forest, Lucy's mind wandered. She was kind of iffy about seeing them again after three months. _'Oh man, I'm kind of nervous about seeing them again…'_ she thought. _'I wonder if Sakimo has a boyfriend yet…'_ she mused. She snickered at the thought. She was quite beautiful, though. Suddenly, her thoughts turned to Natsu. _'I wonder how he felt when I left without telling him…' _

—

It turned out they were a lot farther into the forest then Lucy thought she was. It took a total of 3 and a half days riding on Emerald to finally make out Rimoro Village in the distance. If she found Emerald earlier, she would have probably reached the other end of the forest by now.

By now, the bandits were awake but did not dare speak to the mysterious woman in the black cape. They found it surprising that she gave them food and water, however. She would never talk to them, only to the massive beast they were riding on.

When Lucy arrived at the village, she tied the bandits to a tree, putting one slim finger to her lips, and then brought her finger across her neck. It was a silent representation of, _'If you say one word, I will not hesitate to kill you.'_

Lucy crouched behind a large berry bush adjacent to the bandit tree. She was just close enough so that she could see the village, but for them not to see her.

"Okay, Emer," she turned around to face the dilated green eyes. "You're gonna have to go. Stay close, in the trees, so when I call you you can hear me, alright?" Emerald nodded understandingly and scaled stealthily up a tree, barely making a scratch on it in the process. Lucy turned back to the bush, munching on a few berries as she sat here. She didn't know why she was sitting behind a bush watching the village and eating berries, but she was doing it. Why couldn't she make a decision?

She saw a familiar woman step out of a hut. With shoulder length hair now, Sakimo looked gorgeous. The villagers were also all wrapped up in thick furs, Sakimo included.

She pulled her cape closer around her. Maybe she should just come back at night and drop the bandits and the money off and write a note or something. Maybe she should just leave now and come back later. Maybe she sho-

_'__What was that?'_

She heard something. A shuffle. Lucy hopped up into her battle stance and pulled out her dagger. She moved not a muscle. A tall, lean silhouette emerged from the bushes.

"Lucy…?"

_'__Oh, crap.'_

Lucy lowered the jewelled dagger. "Rimo!" She shuffled her boots. "What a surprise…" She said nervously.

Rimo had changed slightly. His hair was longer and he was now wearing a brown fur and holding a bow and arrow. His features seemed to have matured slightly. His grey eyes were thunderous, as usual, but Lucy spotted a flash of surprise and… was that joy?

She didn't have time to say anything else, because Rimo dropped his bow and stumbled toward her. His arms widened as he got closer, as if he was going for a hug. Lucy wanted to hug him back, but her instincts kicked in and she swiftly dodged the hug.

"Em-" She quickly silenced herself, knowing that this was absolutely not the time to call Emerald. "Sorry," she coughed. Rimo turned and looked into Lucy's eyes. "I just… haven't really had human interaction in quite a while…" She trailed off.

Rimo coughed awkwardly. "I understand… I just can't believe you're here…"

Lucy smiled. "Yeah… Me neither…"

Rimo broke the awkward silence by saying, "So why did you come back?"

Lucy snickered. "Well," she said. "I found these idiot bandits in the forest and I want to rid them of my, erm, Rimoro Forest," she finished.

Rimo, who had apparently not noticed the 11 people tied up, glanced at Lucy in shock. "You defeated these men?" He asked incredulously.

Lucy nodded, dismissing the subject. "Yeah, and they also had 300 000 jewels on them, which I want you to take."

Rimo's eyes were as big as saucers, which was a pretty funny sight, considering.

"300 000!" He exclaimed. "We have no use for money either!"

Lucy shrugged. "Get someone in the village to dump the money and the bandits at the train station, I guess," she suggested.

Rimo looked around. "Okay, then, let's go to the village. Sakimo will be overjoyed to know you're back."

"Oh, hold on now," Lucy said quickly. "I'm not staying. I only came to get rid of these bandits."

Rimo's face fell, but he quickly plastered on a blank look. "Oh, okay. But you should still see Sakimo, she misses you," he insisted.

Lucy suddenly felt bad. She left them and suddenly turns up again only to get rid of some bandits; visiting the village was the least she could do. She forced a smile on her face. "Sure," she said, through clenched teeth. "I guess I can come for a short visit." She untied the bandits from the tree and grasped the rope.

Rimo didn't seem to notice her discomfort and allowed the corners of his lips to turn up slightly before turning and leading the way to the village.

After a short, quiet, and frankly, quite uncomfortable walk, they emerged from the edge of the forest. "Sister," Rimo called, stepping into the village. "I'm back, and look what I found."

Sakimo, carrying a jug of water turned toward him, her brightly coloured earrings glinting in the early winter sun. Lucy hesitantly stepped out from behind Rimo and pulled her hood down. Sakimo's face went through a mixture of confusion, surprise, and joy. _'Lucy,'_ she mouthed, before putting the jug of water down and rushing toward her. Lucy barely had time to pass the rope holding the bandits to Rimo before she was engulfed in a flurry of fur. This time, she forced herself to stay still. She stiffly stood there, and waited for Sakimo to let go. When she didn't, Lucy raised a hand and awkwardly patted her back.

When Sakimo finally let go, her grin was so wide it rivalled Natsu's. She turned and scribbled a note. _'you still have the bag! and come, the rest of the village wants to see you too.'_ Lucy's eyes flicked to the crowd of villagers gathered to see her. She resisted the urge to dodge as the hugging ensued.

_'__I only knew them for a day and a half and they treat me like they've known me for years,' _Lucy mused. She looked into the darkening sky.

"Why don't you stay for dinner," Rimo suggested. Actually, it was more on an order then a suggestion.

"Eh? Oh, no, I only came to bring these bandits to a police station," Lucy said quickly.

_'__No, we insist!' _Sakimo wrote. Lucy smiled grimly. They weren't letting off so easy. Lucy sighed.

"No, really, it's fine," she insisted.

Rimo had an idea. "We won't bring the bandits to the train station is you don't have dinner with us," he said firmly.

Lucy opened her mouth to say something sharp, but decided these siblings would force her to stay anyway. "Sure, okay," she tiredly responded. Sakimo nodded happily and Rimo turned around.

_'__Oh, crap,'_ Lucy remembered. "Uh, guys, I forgot something." The siblings turned around with curious looks on their faces. Well, Sakimo had a curious look, Rimo just looked monotone. "I need to introduce you to my travelling partner I met along the way," she continued anxiously. Rimo looked slightly suspicious. Sakimo grinned and let her eyes flicker from Lucy to Rimo. "I told him to wait in the forest until I called him… Oh, god, he's probably so worried about me-" She was cut short by Rimo.

"He?" Rimo spat.

Lucy was slightly taken aback. "Um, yeah," she said, confused. "Oh, and he might frighten you when I call him," she added.

"Nothing can frighten me," Rimo said, straightening up.

Lucy almost started laughing. "Oh, really?" She replied dryly.

Rimo faced Lucy. "And what are you doing, travelling with a male anyway? How long have you travelled with him?" he asked.

"About two months," Lucy retorted. "And what's so wrong with travelling with a male, anyway?"

"Two months!" Rimo exclaimed. "You can never be too safe, you know, when travelling with a male."

Lucy's jaw dropped. "Excuse me?" She said. "I'll have you know, Emer and I have been travelling for quite a long time together and we're basically inseparable, except for today," she snapped.

Rimo laughed dryly. "It's so unsafe; you never know when he may make his move," he huffed.

"What are you even talking about? What move?!" Lucy threw her hands up. "Hah! You do realize that you're a man yourself, right?" Lucy smirked.

Rimo looked offended. "Do not compare me to those… uncouth men," he said angrily. "I never said that I was that type of person! I'm just warning you about the dangers!"

"Oh so _you_ have the right to be offended?" Lucy huffed. "You just insulted my close friend and you think _you_ can be offended?"

"I never insulted your friend directly!" Rimo defended.

"Then I never offended you!" She argued.

They were interrupted by a loud clanging noise. Turns out they were arguing for so long, Sakimo had time to go inside the hut and grab two pots. Sakimo smiled at them sweetly. She took out a note. It said, _'having a lovers spat, are we?'_ Rimo blushed under his tan skin and Lucy laughed coldly.

"I was only defending my friend!" She defended. "Which I was supposed to call 4 hours ago…" She realized.

"You'd better call him, then," he snapped. Lucy rolled her chocolate eyes.

"Whatever," she said. She turned to the forest. "Emerald!" She hollered. Almost instantly, Emerald leaped out of a nearby tree, almost as if he was waiting for her to call him.

"Run!" Rimo shouted when he saw Emerald. He whipped out a dagger as Sakimo disappeared into her hut. Emerald's cat eyes slitted and he backed away slowly, growling. He glanced at Lucy.

"No!" Lucy screamed, "Don't hurt Emerald!" She leapt in front of Emerald and put her hand on his nose.

"Emerald?" Rimo paused, but still stood bearing his dagger. "_This _is your travelling friend?"

Lucy nodded hurriedly. "Drop the dagger," she commanded. Rimo hesitantly did so. Emerald sat down with a thump. "Come here," she instructed. Rimo slowly walked toward Lucy. "Let him smell your fist, and then pet him or something."

The 'or something' part freaked Rimo out slightly, but he did as she instructed anyway.

"Good boy Emerald!" Lucy cooed. Sakimo peeked out from the hut fearfully. "It's okay Sakimo," she said. "Come and meet Emerald."

—

"That animal is called a Jinsoku," Rimo stated. They were sitting around a wooden table eating their late dinner as Emerald napped outside the house. God knows he couldn't fit inside. "It's one of the most powerful beasts in the forest," he continued. Sakimo nodded. "By the way," he added, "How did you manage to tame such a beast?"

"Hmm?" Lucy looked up. "Oh, it was having a fight with this really ugly giant monkey-like thing, and he was losing so I pitched in and defeated it for him." Rimo and Sakimo looked at each other in shock.

"You mean a Grimalalikino? You _defeated _it?" he asked incredulously. Sakimo looked at Lucy in awe.

"Uh, I guess?" Lucy said, confused. She stared at their shocked faces. "What?"

"A Grimalalikino is equally as powerful as a Jinsoku, but it plays dirty and kills things for fun," he said grimly. "You defeated one?" He asked again.

"I just said that," Lucy replied, rolling her eyes.

Rimo and Sakimo both shook their heads in awe.

—

Lucy was covered in furs but she still shivered.

_"__Where am I…" she murmured. She wandered around a seemingly busy city. Hey, was that… Natsu? _

_"__Natsu!" She called. She saw him turn around and lock eyes with her. She smiled and waved. But his eyes glazed over like he didn't know her and he walked away, disappearing into the crowd. "Natsu?" She called again. She began to run after him, but the deeper she went into the city the darker it got. _

_It was dark now. She could she nothing in the distance. She stopped running when she got to a large plaza. "Natsu? Are you here?" She yelled. Her eyes scanned the plaza. She quickly spotted the bright pink hair. _

_"__Natsu!" She exclaimed as she ran up to the fire mage. "Natsu, why-"_

_Natsu cut her off. "Who are you?" _

_Lucy stopped. "What?" _

_"__I said," he said impatiently, "Who are you?" Lucy stepped forward. Natsu stepped back. _

_"__It's Lucy, your best friend!" She said, confused. Natsu shook his head. _

_"__Sorry, I dunno anything about you," he replied. _

_"__It's Lucy Heartfilia! Remember? You got me into Fairy Tail? You were my first friend!" She protested. _

_Natsu backed away. "You know what? I think I knew a Lucy, once in my life, but she left me. So, I forgot about her," Natsu said. He laughed cruelly. "I don't care about her anymore. So just stay away from me." _

_Lucy felt hot tears well up in her eyes. "But-" _

_"__Get away from me!" He shouted. "You left me!" _

_The plaza went pitch black. Lucy screamed. _

Ouch. Lucy felt a sharp sting on her cheek. "What the…"

She opened her eyes to see a pair of concerned grey eyes. "Sakimo…?"

Sakimo handed her a note. _'sorry about that. i had to slap you in order to wake you up'_ it read. Lucy smiled.

"Thanks. I was having a nightmare anyway," she said, rubbing her cheek. "How did you know to wake me up?" Lucy inquired.

Another note was thrust toward Lucy. _'you were murmuring a name in your sleep. then you started screaming, so i slapped you in the face' _

Lucy laughed unhumorously. Sakimo pointed toward the main doorway. Lucy looked toward the door. A black nose was shoved part way through. Lucy chuckled and got up.

"It's okay, Emerald," she cooed, patting his snout. The urgency to get inside stopped. "I'm okay. You can go back to sleep now." Emerald gave a little snort and backed away. Lucy made her way back to a waiting Sakimo. As soon as she sat down, Lucy was handed a note.

_'__whos natsu?' _Sakimo's grey eyes were genuinely concerned. Lucy sighed.

"Well, it's now or never," she breathed.

"Natsu is… was…my closest friend. Maybe he was even closer then that…" She began.

**A/N:**

**Oh my gosh, I am SO SORRY for not updating in a week! I just left you hanging like that! I wanted to write this for a while, but I was really busY! I'm sure you don't wanna know my reasons. Anyway, thank you SO MUCH FOR 39 REVEIWS AND LIKE 44 FOLLOWS OR SOMETHINGLIKE THAT. IZZ MIND BLOWINN! I asked for 35 and then it goes BAM. I felt so bad getting reviews and then not updating for a week! Forgive me! **

**In all seriousness, I really hope you enjoyed this chapter! I put lots of effort into writing this one! **

**Please leave a review! Writers block in in my path. Pm me if you got ideas! Please. heh. **

**-Jo**

**ps. If you don't get the matthew elliot joke, don't worry about it. It's an inside joke lol. its for YOU JOYCE. YOURE WELCOME 3**


	8. Dangerous

Ch. 8 - Dangerous

—

_**Recap: **_

'_**whos natsu?' **_**Sakimo's grey eyes were genuinely concerned. Lucy sighed. **

"**Well, it's now or never," she breathed.**

"**Natsu is… was…my closest friend. Maybe he was even closer then that…" She began. **

—

The best thing about having a long talk with Sakimo is that Lucy could finish from start to end without any interruptions.

"So, basically, that's what happened," Lucy finished. She looked at Sakimo, checking for reaction. A yellowed piece of paper was handed to her.

'_i think you're strong enough now, dont you wanna go back already?'_ it read. Lucy sighed.

"I do…" she murmured, "But I don't know if I have the guts to face them again after just leaving them so abruptly." Sakimo smiled.

'_go back when you are ready.'_ Lucy smiled at the note and nodded, even though she knew it was going to be a long time before she would feel 'ready' enough to see Natsu, uh, the whole gang again. After all, she didn't even say goodbye.

— _The next morning —_

Lucy's eyes fluttered open. "Where am I…?" she mumbled. She sat up with a start. "Oh, right, I was forced into staying the night," she muttered. She looked around, seeing a passed out Sakimo splayed across the wooden bed. Lucy got up and stretched. She went outside, looking around. The sky was a light rosy pink dusted with pale clouds. The air was cold and crisp. Nonetheless, Lucy decided to go for one last swim in the river before old man winter arrived.

Emerald was still laying outside, and his ears perked up when he saw her. "Shh…" she murmured, petting his snout. "I'm just going for a swim." Emerald nuzzled her hand, a little too forcefully, causing Lucy to fall back on her bottom with a thump. Emerald seemed to laugh. "Stupid cat," she giggled good-naturedly. Lucy turned.

A couple of older villagers were up at dawn, looking surprised as they saw the blonde traverse across the village toward the river.

It was pretty cold already, so going for a swim in the river in the morning was probably not a very good idea. Lucy dived in anyway. The shock of the ice-cold water was almost frightening. Lucy swam against the current for 10 minutes or so, but when she realized she wasn't getting any warmer, she climbed up to the riverbank. She didn't bother to dry her hair, instead just drying her body and putting on her cape.

"You went _swimming?_" An old woman's voice broke the silence of the sleeping village. "The children stopped going for swims months ago!"

"Uh, yeah. It's kind of a daily routine thing. I'll stop during the winter, though," she assured the old lady.

The old lady's features relaxed. "Lucy, was it?" Lucy nodded. "Well, Lucy, thank you for making Rimo happier. He has been cut off from the rest of the village ever since…" The lady's voice trailed off.

"Ever since what?" Lucy prodded. The old lady's eyes met Lucy's again.

"Nothing dear. It's in the past. Run along now, and stay safe in the forest," the old lady dismissed. Lucy nodded again suspiciously before turing towards Sakimo's hut.

Sakimo was now awake, struggling to light a fire in the fireplace. "Here," Lucy smiled. "I can do it." Sakimo nodded gratefully. Seeing her wet hair, Sakimo scribbled down a note and handed it to Lucy. _'lemme cut your hair'_ it read.

"Uh, sorry, but no," Lucy replied bluntly. Sakimo's bottom lip jutted out. Another note was thrust in her face.

'_i would advise you to. your hair gets in your face, no? is it not annoying? i'll even make it look nice. ill put on some makeup too. dark eyeliner. to make you look cool.' _Sakimo pulled a good bargain. Lucy shrugged. Why not? It's not like she card how it looked anyway. There was also literally nobody in the forest to show it to as well.

20 minutes later, a shined plate was triumphantly shoved in Lucy's face. Sakimo really needed to stop this habit of shoving things into people's faces.

Lucy looked into the mirror. Lucy had to admit, she looked a lot more mature. Pretty badass too, especially with the dark makeup. "Okay, I'll admit, it looks pretty goddamn epic. You should be a makeup artist or hairdresser to something_," _Lucy said honestly. Sakimo looked bashful.

'_no way, im not that good. here, take the rest of the eyeliner. its made out of charcoal so you can make it yourself too. just add some water to crushed charcoal and you can put it into this container,' _Sakimo's note read. Lucy smiled, knowing she would never put on the eyeliner again after today.

"Okay," she murmured. Sakimo grinned and put some food into Lucy's worn canvas bag. "Where's Rimo? I wanted to say goodbye before I left again," Lucy asked. Sakimo smiled weirdly and pointed to the eastern end of the remote village. "Thanks. Goodbye Sakimo."

Lucy followed the direction that Sakimo was pointing at and found Rimo chopping up wood. She watched him for a while, and deciding not to interrupt, she turned around.

"Lucy?"

"Oh, hi Rimo," she said. He stared intently at her some a second. "What?" she questioned, suddenly feeling self conscious. "Is there something on my face?"

Rimo seemed to snap out of his trance and he replied, "Yes, actually. You look beautiful."

Lucy snorted. "Oh, give that credit to your dear sister," she snickered.

Rimo nodded. "So what brings you here?"

"I just came to say goodbye," Lucy said. Rimo looked slightly disappointed.

"You're leaving?" He asked quietly. Lucy smiled warmly.

"Yeah," she replied. "I decided I'm not done with my training just yet," she said.

"I think you're perfect already," Rimo blurted.

Lucy felt a pink tint on her cheeks. "Oh, don't be silly," she said.

"No, I mean it," he said firmly, averting his cloudy eyes. He began chopping wood again.

His words hung in the air as Lucy frantically tried to get her beating heart to slow. _'I can tame a wild beast, defeat a colossal monkey, defeat 11 men myself, and yet I get nervous when I get a nice complement? I'm seriously pathetic,'_ Lucy mused. Despite herself, she still thought of Natsu. For some _weird _reason, she thought of Natsu. Of all people, really?

"Yeah, well, uh, thank you for your hospitality," she stuttered. "You've been a great friend, Rimo."

The _thwack_ of the wood paused. Lucy felt the atmosphere darken. "Friend?"

Lucy was confused. "Yeah…?" She said hesitantly. Rimo avoided Lucy's questioning gaze and he pushed pass her angrily. His face was emotionless and solid.

"I gotta go," he said sharply. Lucy stood there in shock as she watched Rimo's figure disappear into the village.

'_What the hell? Is he PMSing or something?'_ Lucy thought as she ran after him.

When the got to the village, Rimo was nowhere to be found. She looked around for a while, but then decided Sakimo could tell her what was wrong with Rimo.

"Sakimo!" Lucy called, poking her head into the familiar hut. Sakimo came out of the other room. She looked confused.

"Hey, I know I said I was leaving, but something happened with Rimo. He,well, I don't know, got really mad after I said…" She ran through the situation in her head. "After I said he was a great friend," she explained. Sakimo was quiet. Suddenly, she snorted loudly before beginning her weird silent laughter thing.

"What's so funny?" Lucy demanded.

Sakimo quickly scribbled something down on a note and pressed it into Lucy's hand. it read: _'oh, lucy. do you not understand? rimo is, despite his poker faced attitude, quite a sensitive man. you may have hurt him because you called him a friend. and because he's pretty rash, he does things without thinking. he possesses strong feelings for you, you know. here, if you can't find him, theres a piece of paper on the table with a pencil that you can use to write a note. haha'_ Lucy sighed. She had suspected Rimo had feelings for her but also didn't expect them to be true. She walked to the table and began to write.

—

Rimo was watching Lucy leave. Hidden in an abandoned hut on the far edge of the village, he deeply regretted his actions.

Lucy was fighting with herself as she entered the forest. "You gotta go," Lucy told herself. "Don't give into your emotions," she said. "But I don't want to leave on a bad note…" she mumbled. "Dammit," she muttered as her legs promptly turned around.

"Rimo!" Lucy called. Rimo instinctively ran toward the voice calling his name.

"Ri - Oh, what the hell? You were there all along?" Lucy yelled. "Are you serious? Why the hell did I not look there?"

Rimo shuffled his feet sheepishly. "Sorry about before…" he muttered.

"No," Lucy stated, "I should be the one that is sorry. I didn't realize how you felt about me until the last minute. I shouldn't ha-" Rimo placed a slender finger on her lips. Lucy felt slightly uncomfortable, but let him say what he had to say.

"It's fine, Lucy. It was my fault for being so idiotic," he said. "But there is one thing that you can do to make it up to me," he continued.

Lucy perked up a bit. "Oh, yeah? What would that be?"

"Let me do this," he said, planting his hands on her shoulders. He leaned in closer.

His lips were millimetres away from hers when Lucy did the weirdest thing.

She _dodged._ And it _wasn't instinctive. _

Because for some odd, weird reason, right when their lips would connect, Natsu's face flashed in Lucy's mind. She felt wrong kissing Rimo when Natsu was still out there.

Rimo stopped. He opened his eyes and saw how close his face was to hers and immediately backed away. "Oh, god, I'm so sorry," he breathed.

Lucy forced a laugh. "There you go again, making rash decisions," she chuckled awkwardly. "Stupid instinctive dodges…" she said quickly. Rimo smiled lightly.

"Well, I, uh, gotta go," Lucy said, looking at the sky. It was mid morning, at the latest 9:00.

"So, I guess this is goodbye, then?" Rimo said.

Lucy nodded. "Yeah… So, uh, bye then."

Rimo nodded. Lucy walked away. After walking a small distance, she turned around and waved. Rimo smiled and waved back.

"Stay gold, Rimo!" she yelled.

—

"Okay Emerald, we can finally go," she whispered to her giant friend. Emerald raised an eyebrow. Cats have eyebrows?

"Hey," Lucy defended. "This makeup makes me look hot and I can see whole lot better with this haircut." The sass master rolled his eyes and lowered down slightly.

Lucy jumped up. "I'm getting better at this jumping thing, huh? Pretty soon you won't have to lower down anymore," she chuckled. Emerald waited patiently for her directions. They sat there for a second before Lucy realized Emerald didn't know where to go.

"Oh, sorry Emer," she said. "Just… take me as far away from this village as possible, alright?" Emerald nodded and took off without a sound.

—_Fairy Tail— _

The door banged open and the childish voice rang through the hall. "Guys! I'm back!" Natsu screamed.

Mirajane smiled from the counter. "How was your solo job, Natsu?" Natsu grinned widely.

"I got paid!" He said gleefully, sitting down on a counter stool.

"Aye, sir!" Happy squealed. "Now we can buy some fish, right, Natsu?" He said dreamily.

Natsu opened his mouth to answer but was cut off by Erza. "Natsu!" She called sternly.

"Yeah, Erza?" He replied. "Wanna fight?" He asked hopefully. She shook her head silently. It was then Natsu realized that something was up. Ezra called Gray over. He removed himself from Juvia's arms and sauntered over.

"What happened? Did flame-brain over here destroy something?" Gray snickered.

"No. I need you both to listen, this is serious," she replied calmly. That shut Gray up.

Ezra continued. "Do you both remember the job we all went on about a week ago?" She didn't give then time to respond, instead continuing on. "Well, those 11 bandits were dropped off at a police station, including the money. The man who dropped them off said it wasn't his doing, but a visitor who would prefer to be left unknown. All we know is that the bandits were all defeated at once by one woman," she concluded.

Natsu and Gray were both stumped.

"A woman defeated all of those bandits by herself?" Gray was surprised. Maybe it was because the train was shaking wildly when the battle began or because he had lost the will to fight, but even he couldn't defeat all 11 men by himself. If Natsu and Erza pitched in, they could have wiped them all out easily. But to defeat all 11 by oneself? And she was a woman!

"Who is this?" Natsu asked. Ezra shrugged.

"We don't know yet, but this woman - if she is a woman - is powerful. Probably up to par with you guys. And possibly dangerous."

Natsu frowned. Something was wrong with this picture. He felt something in his gut. _'Eh,' _Natsu shrugged, _'I must be hungry or something.'_

Master Makarov was listening to their conversation. He suspected this woman was Lucy, but there was no real proof. What was really surprising is that if this mystery woman _did_ happen to be Lucy, then Lucy's strength had increased greatly.

**A/N:**

**I don't own Fairy Tail. (I have been forgetting to put these *~*)**

**IF ANYONE GETS THE REFERENCE IN THIS CHAPTER I WILL BE SO PROUD. I literally could not stop laughing. **

**And guess what milestone we have reached guys. 50 REVEIWS! Thank you. I don't know what else to say, but THANK YOU! I never even expected to reach even 20. Please keep these reviews coming! It's really gratifying and not to mention fun. **

**I'm so sorry for the week long + wait! I have no excuses. Oh, and I have set up a poll because it will be easier to keep track of who is voting for pairings. Please vote!**

**QUESTION: Would you rather chew the same piece of gum for the rest of your life or eat an uncooked tarantula?**

**Um that's all I believe…**

**-Jo **


	9. Night Pythoness

Ch. 9 - Night Pythoness

—

_Recap: _

Rimo nodded. Lucy walked away. After walking a small distance, she turned around and waved. Rimo smiled and waved back.

"Stay gold, Rimo!" she yelled.

—

"We don't know yet, but this woman - if she is a woman - is powerful. Probably up to par with you guys. And possibly dangerous."

Master Makarov was listening to their conversation. He suspected this woman was Lucy, but there was no real proof. What was really surprising is that if this mystery woman _did_ happen to be Lucy, then Lucy's strength had increased greatly.

—

— _Timeskip: One year since Lucy left the guild_ —

Lucy POV

There was a time and place to be lounging in a tree chowing down on some unknown fruit doing absolutely nothing with the Sass King napping in a patch of sunlight, but now was not the time. Around this time, I should be on a run or hunting for dinner or something.

But, god, did it feel good.

One year. One year since I had left the guild. I deserved a break, right? Every day spent training (minus the two days she had spent in Rimoro Village). Every day spent in hardcore preparation. Preparation to go back.

I was going to go back.

What if they forgot me? Nah, they wouldn't do that… would they?

What if they don't accept me? I don't think I changed a whole lot. Did i? Nah…

"Oi, Emer," I announced. Emerald's eyes opened to reveal those beautiful dilated orbs. "I'm going back home." The feline's eyes grew hopeful.

I paused. "And you're coming with me." Emerald jumped down from the tree and rolled around in the grass happily. I laughed, letting myself fall from the tree and I landed swiftly in a crouch position. Emerald got up and nuzzled my face gently, but still forceful enough to knock me over. "Oh, man," I said to him, stroking his inky fur as I sat on the forest floor. "How will the guild react?"

—_The next day—_

"Gate of the Compass, I summon thee!" I cried. "Pyxis!"

The red bird appeared. "Hi Lucy! How may I help you today?" It tweeted cheerily.

I smiled. "Pyxis, I think the direction back to Fairy Tail is probably East, but I just wanted to check with you to make sure we aren't going to go back the wrong way," I directed.

Pyxis frowned. "It's correct, but aren't you going to go back to Rimoro Village so you can go to the train station?"

I sighed. "I should probably go so I can wish them a proper goodbye, but I can't take the train anyway because I have no money…" She said. "Oh, and Emerald is probably faster then the train anyway," she added as Emerald nodded smugly. I rolled my eyes.

Pyxis nodded understandingly. "Oh," Pyxis added, wiggling it's eyebrows. "You probably want to go see this Rilo? You liiike him," it said suggestively.

Wait a second. How the hell did Pyxis know about Rimo?

"You mean Rimo?" I said, aghast. "How the hell do you know what happened? And don't roll your tongue like that!" I snapped.

Pyxis rolled its eyes. "It's _all _over the Spirit World, Lucy. Your nickname is The Summoner of Sprits because you can summon four spirits at the same time! Your magic power is super duper high!"

"And tell me, how did you hear about Rimo?"

"Oh. Well since you're so famous, Loke comes back and told Sagittarius, he tells Scorpio, Scorpio tells Aquarius, and then it spread like wildfire!"

I _knew_ I shouldn't have said anything to Loke. Oh, he is going to get it good the next time I summon him.

I sighed, rubbing my temples. "Okay, whatever. Just stop spreading the rumours," I groaned, as I waved the key and sent Pyxis back. I turned to Emerald to find him looking at me with an eyebrow raised. I didn't know cats could do that.

"What?" I barked. Emerald huffed and I jumped swiftly onto his back. I grinned, grasping Emerald's thick fur.

"I'm coming, Natsu. And, uh, and the rest of you." I frowned. Emerald snorted.

Apparently I can't be dramatic.

—

I was riding for about ten minutes when I heard an unnatural sound. A series of anguished screams tore through the silence of the forest.

What the hell?

I patted Emerald on his neck softly, signalling to him to slow down. I stood up on his back and jumped quietly up onto a tree. I nodded toward Emerald, then jerked my head toward the sound. I shook my head. Emerald stared at me for a second and then slinked away.

I jumped silently from tree to tree. The screaming became louder and louder. Did I hear laughter?

I continued my search until I found the source of the agonized shrieking. I perched in a high tree and watched curiously as the scene played out before me. I squinted my eyes.

I made out a tall woman that bore an uncanny resemblance to Minerva and a small, petite teen with fair skin and bright orange hair.

"Get up," the tall woman commanded, with not sense of pity for the poor girl.

The girl lay on the forest floor, bloody and bruised in various places. The tall woman smirked and kicked her roughly with a pointed heel. How the heck does she walk in those?

"Forgive me, Master, but I can't," the girl murmured. The tall woman laughed, a cruel and piercing sound. She shot her with a blast of magic.

The girl writhed in pain, screaming. I winced. It looked pretty painful. I remembered what had happened in the water ball at the Grand Magic Games. Minerva. My eye twitched at the mere thought of her name. This woman was beating this girl for what? Her own pleasure? People like that need to die.

I reached for my dagger but paused. I can't just butt in like that. I'm not that type of person anymore. I won't let my emotions control my actions. I _can't._

The woman continued using the girl as a punching bag, all the while laughing cruelly. After about thirty more minutes of ruthless beating, the tall woman paused.

The woman raised her arm and powered her magic up, with a sadistic grin. "Any last words before you go and sink into hell, bitch?"

The girl shuddered and twitched helplessly.

"Hah! You're nothing but a coward," the woman spat, aiming at the girl.

_Coward. _

My façade shattered and I dived down from the tree without thinking. My hands quickly found my dagger and I positioned myself in front of the red headed girl, deflecting the blow.

Now that I was face to face with her, I could get a good look at this vicious woman. Long jet-black hair cascaded down her back and was secured at the very end with a red ribbon. Her features were sharp and her eyes were an intense gray with small flecks of blue. She was chillingly beautiful.

"Well, well, well," the woman murmured. "Who has dared to interrupt my punishment?"

I kept my mouth in a tight line, refusing to answer.

The woman's lips curled up to a bone-chilling smile. "Don't be shy," the woman prodded menacingly. "My name is Sandra. What's yours?"

I spat on the ground and stood my ground in front of the girl. "That doesn't matter right now," I growled. Sandra stuck out her plump bottom lip into a pout.

"Aw, too bad. This girl doesn't want to play," she said, faking hurt. "I guess I'll have to kill her also, right, Lupa?" The girl behind me, Lupa, shivered and didn't move an inch.

I laughed unhumorously. "I had a bad experience with with a bitch like you, once. She acted just like you." I locked my eyes with her piercing gray ones. I saw a flash of surprise in them. I put my jelled dagger back in it's sheath before choosing to go with my true weapon.

My whip.

"Hah!" The woman huffed confidently. "You're going to try and beat _me_ with a mere _whip?_" The woman laughed loudly. She powered up her magic. "Come now," she spat. "Show me what you got. I'll have fun with you now, and I'll kill yo-" She didn't get to finish her sentence because my whip just happened to crack against her smooth face. She stood in surprise as she slowly registered what had happened to her. "Why you little-" She lunged at me, shooting me with a blast of magic.

But I was ready.

I blocked easily and quickly summoned Loke. "Hey Lucy! I'm just that irresisti- Oh, I see we are in a situation here," he said stupidly. Didn't know Loke could sound so stupid.

"You don't say," I shouted, still finding time to be sarcastic while blocking Sandra's angry punches. "Take that girl away from danger," I directed. Loke swept Lupa up in his arms and disappeared into the forest. I hope he doesn't try anything with her.

Sandra's magic punches were fast and difficult to block. God, each of her punches felt like a train hitting me. She was fast too. Not only getting punches at me, her defence was impenetrable. After only 15 minutes I was covered in bruises and she was still a perfect as she was before.

"Aw, looks like girlie here can't get any attacks on me," she panted. Wait… She panted? Was she tired?

I had an idea. It was far fetched and quite possibly dangerous, but it was worth a shot.

"I'm just getting warmed up," I smirked. "And," I said mockingly, "Your punches are kinda off aim a bit. I think you should go practice a little more, eh?" I saw the rage light in her eyes.

"You're gonna get it blondie," she shrieked, diving toward me. She went on an attack spree, full of anger.

I blocked as many as I could, and her punches were substantially weaker then her first ones. If I could just make her angry one more time… She was panting hard now. She didn't have many bruises, but she looked weary.

"You know," I said, "I thought you were pretty fit when I first saw you, but it seems you gotta bit of a muffin-top coming along," I teased, grinning despite the scratches on my face.

Sandra screamed in fury. She used up all the rest of her strength to attack me, fuelled by her rage. In the beginning, she seemed strong and confident. She may have been powerful, but her power was limited. Her attacks were now weak and her defence pretty much sucked.

Sandra laughed. "I may be tired, but you're all bruised up," she hissed. "I haven't got so much as a scratch on me. You'll be an easy opponent, even if I am tired. Go back to where you came from."

And then she said it. My trigger word. The word that was the source of all my sadness and anger. The word that caused me to push away the ones that I loved and leave my home. The word I hated.

"Bacon."

Just kidding. She didn't say that.

"Coward," she spat.

And that was it. I was blinded.

I didn't know how long had gone by before I felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist and yanked me away from the once-beautiful body.

"She's done already, Lucy! Stop!" Loke shouted. I continued blindly throwing punches at the air. "Lucy! Stop!" Loke screamed. I froze.

What happened?

Oh, my god.

I broke free of Loke's arms and rushed toward the woman. "Lucy, no!" He yelled. But I wasn't going to attack.

I placed two fingers on her neck. Please. Please. Please.

I felt nothing, at first. And then I felt it. A pulse. Weak, but there. If Loke hadn't come… Oh, god, would she be… I almost vomited at the thought.

I whistled. Emerald was at my side in minutes. "Take her to the village hunting grounds. Make sure you put her somewhere where they can find her," I said. Emerald nodded and picked her up with his tail, depositing her on his back.

"I'll wait here of you, yeah?" I patted his neck.

—

"So, if I called you a coward you would freak out and go crazy? That's pretty shallow, you know," Loke snickered. I shrugged.

"I don't know what happened. I guess my bottle of emotions finally broke," I replied.

Loke nodded. "Oh, by the way, the girl is awake now. She said her name was Lupa or something."

"Where is she?"

Loke shifted. "I left her in the forest because I felt I should check on you," he mumbled.

"You freaking IDIOT!" I screamed as he went running to go find the girl.

—

"Go home Loke, and I'm gonna have a little talk about your gossiping habits next time," I said.

"Love you too!" He said, disappearing.

"So you're a Celestial Mage?" A silky, shy voice said from behind me.

"Yeah." I turned to see the petite girl all bandaged up sitting behind me.

"Thanks. By the way. For saving me," she said shyly.

"So, uh, can you get home or something?" I replied, choosing to ignore her thanks.

She shook her head. "I belong to a guild, actually."

Well, _great_. All I needed now was a 14 year old or something like that to lug around with me.

"What type of Magic?" I asked.

"Heat magic. I can heat up inanimate objects. I can't set them on fire, but I can heat them up without burning them," she replied, twirling a braid.

Huh. Haven't heard of that before. Then again, I've been living in the forest for a year now. "Okay. Wonderful. Now go home," I said, turning toward Emerald who was perched atop a random boulder. I clipped my cloak closed and pulled the hood up.

"Um, actually, I have a request for you," Lupa called.

"What do you want?" I asked. "Food? Water? Do you want me to bring you home or something?" I was getting annoyed.

"You kind of just defeated our guild master," she blurted. I choked. Pathetic, isn't it? I can choke even without something in my mouth.

"That was your _guild master?_ Why the hell would she beat you up like that?" I sputtered. "What's the name of your guild anyway?"

Lupa frowned. "She took me out here to kill me because I caused shame to the guild," she answered. "I failed a job."

I nearly blew up. "What a shitty guild master!" I exploded. "No offence."

Lupa shrugged. "None taken. She was pretty mean," she said. "And our guild is called Night Pythoness. It's a women's only guild, too." She lifted her shirt to show a red Insigna. It looked like a snake or something curled around a star.

Huh. Haven't heard of that before. "I haven't heard of it."

"That's because we're a dark guild."

Oh okay. Wait, what?

"But you're so nice!" I blurted. Why was _I_ so being so nice to this girl anyway?

"Just because we're nice doesn't mean that we can't be a dark guild. We just don't believe that magic should be limited. We should use it to our full extent. The magic council can't control us. The things that we do aren't illegal in our eyes," she said. "Anyway, back to my request."

"Shoot," I said, taking a drink from my canteen of water.

"Can you be our new guild master?"

This time I actually choked.

"G-guild Master?" I stammered. "Why me?"

"Well, you kinda just almost killed our old one," Lupa pointed out. Right. I forgot about that.

"Uh, I'm not powerful enough for that," I said hastily.

Lupa frowned. "We need someone to lead. There's only 17 of us," she stated.

I shook my head. "Sorry. I'm nowhere near powerful enough to become a guild master. And I got somewhere I need to go."

"Please! It would mean the world to me! You just need to lead us, that's all!"

I shook my head again, feeling pity for the girl. "Sorry Lupa. No can do." I hopped onto Emerald's back.

"There's nobody else who can lead," she begged. When I didn't respond, she said, "At least take me back."

Maybe I couldn't join, but was there harm in helping out an injured girl? Why not. "Hop on and point to where the HQ is."

—

"Emerald, wait here. I'll be back out soon."

Lupa smiled. She leaned against me awkwardly. Their guild was located underground, and their door was trapdoor so well hidden that nobody would have suspected was there at even close inspection.

She pointed to a small handle and I flung open the trapdoor. "Guess who!" Lupa called.

The chatter in the room stopped. "Lupa?"

"Was that who I think it was?"

"She's back?"

"Oh, my gosh, I thought she was going to die!" A small crowd of women gathered at the base of the stairs.

"Lupa!"

Lupa rushed downward at her fellow guild mates. "I'm back, guys! With the help of this lady here, I survived!"

I was then sucked down into the brightly lit underground room. I was crowded with 'thank you's' and 'how did you do it's'.

"Wait…" One older woman asked. "Where's Sandra?"

"This lady almost killed her," Lupa said simply. "But don't worry, she's not dead.

The guild went quiet.

"Oh," the same lady said. "Well, at least she's not dead."

"Oh, please," another said. "That's the least of our newfound worries. The question is, who's gonna be our new Master?"

I began to back slowly up the stairs, but all 17 pairs of eyes were focused on me.

"What's your name and magic?" The older woman asked.

"Uh, Licia Partfilia. Celestial Magic."

The woman clapped her hands together. "Perfect! It even goes with our name! Pythoness means conjuror of spirits! You shall be our new guild master!"

"Uh, no," I replied. "I got… stuff to do."

Once again, all 17 eyes were starting at me. "Please?" Lupa said.

Well, I knew I was probably going to regret this later. I was also probably never going to get to rejoin Fairy Tail again. I was probably never going to see Natsu (and the rest of the guild, of course) again. They were also a Dark Guild that didn't seem very dark.

But as these women looked at me with their eyes full of hope, what was a supposed to do? Reject them again and just leave them in their weird underground cave thing?

"Fine."

**A/N: **

**Does anyone actually read these? haha. **

**Sorry for the delayed update! I have a french project due on Wednesday that I haven't started on yet so…. **

**Thanks for reading! **

**Also, tell me if you like Lucy's POV better or Third Person POV better. **

**By the way I don't own fairy tail. In my dreams I do though. **

**Stay awesome! Reviews are greatly appreciated! **

**-jo **


	10. Red Snakes

Ch. 10 - Red Snakes

Apparently, Night Pythoness didn't take jobs. They didn't have S-Class Mages. They basically just went around and destroyed cities. This was so weird. She was gonna have to make some changes.

"Okay, guys," she said loudly. The women's excited chatter died down. "So, as your new…. master…. I'm going to change some things." She looked around the room. "From now on, I'm sorry to say I'm just too used to sleeping in trees and I wanna keep it that way. We're gonna sleep in the trees," she announced.

Much to Lucy's surprise, the women agreed whole-heartedly. Lucy paused before saying, "You're not mad?"

The women all shrugged. "Sandra made us sleep outside anyway," a short lady named Sami chirped. Lucy almost gasped before she remembered she wasn't supposed to care. "Good," Lucy muttered. "Also, we're waking up at dawn." Some of the women groaned. Lucy snickered. "I guess that's it," she said.

Lucy walked around the neat under ground headquarters. She had gotten her Insignia on her lower back, just visible if she lifted her shirt. Lupa was annoyingly following her around, asking her if she needed anything.

"No!" Lucy said overwhelmingly. "Why do you keep asking me that?!" She exclaimed. Lupa shuffled her feet awkwardly, her pale blue eyes cast down.

"Sorry. I guess it's a habit." Her eyes flickered around the room. "Our old Master was literally our master," she said. Lucy blinked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lucy wondered. Lupa rubbed her heavily bandaged arms.

"As in, she was the master and we were her slaves," she said quietly.

Lucy's eyes softened. "Well, as your new… uh… master, I promise to never treat this guild as slaves, but as equals." Lupa's eyes brightened. "From now on, we aren't guild-mates. We're family," Lucy said, recalling her family back home.

Lupa exhaled. "Whoa," she breathed.

Wow. This guild was not a guild at all. Lucy was going to get used to this. But before she was going to settle in, she needed to do something before she left permanently.

— _A little over a week later —_

Rimoro Village didn't seem to change at all. It took half the day on Emerald to get to Rimoro Village. Lucy had left the women at their old headquarters, saying she had some business to clear up first.

"Okay Emerald. I'll call you when I need you," she whispered, patting his neck. He nodded and bounded away.

It was the beginning of spring. The snow was melting and Lucy could pull off jeans and her favourite leather jacket with a studded collar.

Lucy peeked stealthily through the bushes. She smiled to herself as she saw Sakimo. Over the course of two years, she grew to a gorgeous young woman. Her hair had grown out to her collar bones, and her figure was curvy and mature. But, there was something wrong. She had lost her spark. She seemed depressed. Maybe it was just a bad day.

Lucy took a deep breath. Here she was, a guild master - a dark guild too - and she was nervous about seeing her old friends again.

The blonde rose and approached the village.

At first, nobody noticed her. She walked past an old lady. The woman paused. "Lucy? Is that you?" She asked, smiling. Lucy turned and grinned.

At the sound of Lucy's name, Sakimo turned toward the two. Sakimo's face was etched with confusion. As realization dawned on her, she took a small step toward Lucy, the corners of her lips turning up.

'_Lucy,'_ Sakimo mouthed. She flew toward her, arms spread wide. Lucy almost dodged out of the way, but returned the long-awaited hug.

Soon, more villagers recognized Lucy and gathered around the blonde. Lucy was suddenly surrounded by many, but there was one person whom she wanted to see the most.

He stepped out of a hut. He had grown his hair out; it just reached the bottom of his earlobes. His handsome face lit up when he saw Lucy, and he ran toward her and engulfed her in his tan arms.

"I can't believe you're here." His voice was muffled from being buried in her shoulder. He let go of her and put his hands on her shoulders. "How long will you be staying?"

Lucy's forced a smile on her face. "I actually just joined a guild. I wanted to come and give you one last goodbye before I left permanently," she said, a weary smile frozen on her face.

Rimo looked crestfallen. "Oh," he said quietly, letting go of her shoulders. He looked back up at her with an emotionless wall. "Well, at least stay for a couple of hours. You can catch up with me and Sakimo. Have lunch with us," he said hopefully. Sakimo, standing beside Rimo, nodded enthusiastically. Lucy smiled grimly. It was the least she could do.

She was about to nod her head when a clear voice rang out from the hut Rimo was in.

A woman's voice. It sounded quite familiar. Lucy frowned. Where had she heard that voice from?

"Rimo? Who's there?" It said. "Introduce me!"

The second the voice began to speak, Samiko cast her eyes down. She took a small step back.

Lucy had just recognized the voice and was about to bolt out of the village when a bandaged, tall woman stepped out from the hut. _'Oh, crap,'_ Lucy thought when her eyes locked with the woman's.

Night Pythoness's former guild master. Sandi.

A bloodcurdling scream ripped through the town and Rimo rushed to her side, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. Sakimo stepped behind Lucy.

"Sandra, you should be resting," Rimo exclaimed. Oh. Her name was Sandra. Awkward.

Sandra raised a trembling finger toward Lucy. "It was her," she whispered, her eyes wide as saucers. "She was the one who did this to me."

Rimo glanced at Lucy laughed forcefully. "Lucy would never do something like that, Sandra. You're just disoriented, that's all," he said. Sandra shook her head vigorously.

"It was her," she shrieked. "She was the one that took my beloved guild away from me" All eyes were turned toward Lucy.

Lucy didn't utter a word. What could she say anyway?

Sandra eagerly continued. "It was her! I was just having a talk with one of my guild members when she jumped from the tree and began to attack me!" The villagers didn't say a word. Rimo turned towards Lucy. Lucy was surprised to see his eyes big and hopeful.

"Lucy," he asked calmly. "Tell Sandra that she has gotten it wrong, and that it was merely a woman that looked like you that did this." Lucy remained silent. She couldn't lie.

Rimo's eyes turned pleading. "Please, Lucy," he breathed.

Lucy felt a burning sensation behind her eyes. "I can't," she said, her eyes cast down.

Rimo paused. "Why?"

Lucy stayed silent, begging herself not to cry.

"Why!?" Rimo barked.

"Because I can't lie!" she shouted. Rimo was taken aback.

"Does that mean…?"

Lucy looked up a Rimo, locking her hardened eyes on his angry ones. They both stayed quiet, accessing the situation at hand. Sandra took the opportunity to speak.

"She ruined me," Sandra cried, faking tears. This woman was really something else.

Rimo's face was dark.

"Get out."

"If you'd just let me explain-" Lucy began.

"Get out of my village!" He screamed. Sakimo ran up to him and thrust a note in his face. "No," he snapped. Sakimo pleadingly looked up at him. After a few seconds, he looked at Lucy, avoiding her eyes. "You can talk to Sakimo, but don't you ever say a word to me again," he said, eerily calm.

"You need to listen to me-" Lucy tried to say.

"You came here to say goodbye," he said quietly. "So, goodbye, Lucy."

He turned away, guiding Sandra back to the hut. Before they entered the hut, Sandra looked back smugly.

Lucy looked around at the villagers. Shockingly, they all looked back at her sadly before walking away and returning to their things. Lucy felt tears well up in her eyes and she was swept into an empty hut but Sakimo.

_im so sorry i couldnt do anything, lucy.'_ Sakimo's face was full of sadness and fear. Lucy shook her head and blinked away her tears.

"No, it's not your fault," she said assuringly. "Why is the village so afraid of her anyway?" Sakimo locked her eyes with Lucy's. She began scribbling on a piece of paper she fished out from her pocket. It seemed she was writing for a while before she finally gave it to Lucy to read.

'_sandra is our older step sister. after our parents died she was never the same. she was always nice to rimo, but she hated me. i think she thought that rimo paid more attention to me then her. i was only a toddler after all. when i was 11 she was already starting to learn magic. she was around 14 at the time. she… 'tested' her magic on me. she blasted me in the throat with a kind of magic that goes from the inside out. my vocal chords were destroyed, and i never spoke again. sandra blamed it on me, that i had somehow it to myself to gain attention from rimo. sandra told me that if i tell him what actually happened, she would take out my eyes as well.'_

Lucy looked up and saw the raw pain in Sakimo's eyes. She continued reading. _'the whole village knows the truth but is too afraid to tell rimo. either way he wont listen. shes brainwashed him too much. when she left to join that guild, night pythoness, the whole village was relieved. rimo was sad, so, so sad. no matter how many times i told him, he always blamed it on himself. thats why he was so reserved. but ever since you came along, he started to open up a little more. but now… shes back.' _Lucy stood there with the paper in her hands, letting her brain absorb this newfound information. She let the note flutter to the ground and she found herself embracing the slim woman tightly.

"I won't let her get to you," Lucy whispered. She felt Sakimo nod. "Stay strong, Sakimo."

Sakimo nodded, and hugged her tighter before letting her go. She quickly wrote another note. _'thanks. and do not worry about rimo, he will come to his senses sooner or later.' _

Lucy smiled sadly. "I hope so," Lucy said, more to herself then Sakimo.

Sakimo smiled back and hugged her once more, before letting Lucy go on her way.

Lucy stepped out into the bright sunlight and zipped up her leather jacket. She plastered an impassive expression on her face and avoided the pitying stares form the villagers. She walked to the edge of the village and whistled.

Emerald came shooting through the village before stopping right in front of Lucy. His eyes were wide and concerned. Lucy forced a smile on her face and patted Emerald's velvet snout.

"Let's go. I'm finished here," she said coldly. Emerald, for once, didn't be sassy and waited for her to climb on before the streaked away.

— _Two years later — _

— _Fairy Tail Guild — _

"Hey, Ice Princess, why you breathing so close to me?"

"Well, I don't know, Flame Brain, maybe it's because I'm human and I need to breathe!"

Wendy giggled. Natsu and Gray were going at it again. "Look, Carla! They're fighting again!"

Carla scoffed. "It's about time, they haven't fought for a month!"

"Carla! I got you a flower! It's almost beautiful!" Happy padded up to Carla holding a daffodil in his tiny paws. Carla looked confused.

"What do you mean, almost beautiful?" She asked.

"Because nothing is as beautiful as you, Carla!" Happy exclaimed, well, happily!

Carla blushed. "Fine, I'll take it." Happy was overjoyed.

The guild doors slammed open. "Natsu! Gray! Let's go on a job! I need to buy more cakes!" Erza's stern voice rang through the bar. "Let's go on an S-Class. I need some money to buy more cakes." Erza's eyes sparkled in excitement.

Natsu and Gray halted their fists. Gray shrugged. "Eh, why not! We haven't really gone on a job together in a couple of months," he said.

For once, Natsu agreed with Gray. "Yeah, sure. We're all S-Classes now, and we haven't gone on an S-Class together yet. I'm all fired up!" Erza nodded approvingly. It was obvious she was still the most mature and strongest out of all of them, even if they were S-classes now.

3 minutes later, the trio, plus Happy, stood around the S-Class job board. Gray jabbed his finger at a request. "How about this one?"

Erza read the listing and then nodded. "Sounds good."

It was a job to find one tiny gem for a rich blacksmith on a cliff that was approximately 100 plus miles long. There would be bloodthirsty animals along the way. The job would be difficult and time consuming, but still rewarding.

Erza turned toward Natsu, arms crossed over her chest. "What do you think about this job, Natsu?…Natsu?"

Natsu was immersed in one particular job listing. "Let's take this one," he murmured. Erza and Gray both frowned. "Why this one," Erza asked, squinting at the paper. It was a job from the mayor of the wealthy city of Conai. It requested the protection of one or more mages, because he feared that his town would be targeted next by some dark guild. This guid has been trashing and destroying towns, mainly wealthily.

"Oi, Flame brain, why this job?" Gray muttered, frowning.

"Yes, why this? This one requires us to defeat an entire guild," Erza said.

Natsu shook his head, crossing his arms behind his head. "I dunno, but I just got this feeling that we have to do this one," he said distractedly. "Come on, it even says it's a Women's Only guild of… what's that? 19 people?"

Gray rolled his eyes. "It's 17, dumbass," he said.

"Whatever, stripper. Can we take this job, Erza?" Natsu pleaded. Erza looked at the paper uncertainly.

"Are you sure?" She said, rubbing her temples. Natsu nodded eagerly. "… Fine."

"Yeah! I'm all fired up!" He screamed, running out the door.

Erza and Gray both sighed. Once Natsu was focussed on something, there was no getting him out of it. Time to head to the city of Minno, the most recently attacked city.

— _City of Minno — _

"So, you're going to throw away everything you have, and lead a life of honesty from now on, is that clear?"

The plump man nodded fearfully at the woman who stood before him, fire and chaos in the background. All the women were dressed in black cloaks with designs of white snakes spiralling up their backs. This one, however, was different. There were red snakes. The man put two and two together and figured it was best not to piss this one, especially this one, off. "Crystal," he said.

"Good. And if you decide to go against my orders," she leaned in closer. "I'll find you," she whispered. The man shuddered and nodded again. The woman smiled.

A loud whistle tore through the city and the woman stopped destroying the buildings. "Let's go. We're done here," she yelled. The women all nodded and dispersed. She whistled again. A giant black panther with green eyes appeared, it seems, out of nowhere. The plump man shrunk down into the rubble fearfully.

The woman jumped on to it's back with impeccable agility. She turned toward the man one last time.

"Sorry," the woman said, before the speeded away.

— _About 1 hour later — _

"Damn, they really trashed this place, huh," Gray commented, kicking a rock.

Erza nodded. "Yes. There was only 17 of them too," she said. "Pretty unbelievable."

Natsu sniffed the air. Smoke, dust and a faint whiff of cherry blossoms and peaches. Huh. Smelled like Lucy. Natsu paused. He took a big whiff of the air. Yup. Definitely peaches and cherry blossoms. Wait… That meant Lucy was here?

"Lucy!" He hollered. Gray and Erza stopped their investigating.

"What did you say?" Erza said sharply.

"I can smell her…" Natsu whispered. "She was here. She was here, guys!" He yelled.

Erza shook her head.

"I think you're just smelling things, Natsu," Gray said uncertainly. Natsu shook his head.

"My nose is never wrong," he protested.

Erza sighed. "You may look around, but I highly doubt that," she said, rubbing her temples. "Gray!"

Gray jumped. "What?"

"Continue the investigation and maybe we can figure out where we this guild will strike next," she commanded. "Look into the buildings and talk to the people, see if they know anything about the guild. Seems like this guild only destroys towns, not the people."

Gray groaned. "Are you kidding me? And Natsu just gets to look around for-"

Erza's piercing glare burned holes through Gray's head.

"On it," Gray said hurriedly.

Meanwhile, Natsu was trying to make sense of this nostalgic smell. Happy was rushing after him. "Natsu!" He yelled.

"I gotta find her, Happy," he muttered, more to himself then Happy.

Happy sighed. He knew he was going to have to tell him the truth. "She's gone, Natsu."

Natsu stopped so short Happy smashed right into Natsu's head. "Owie…"

Natsu didn't feel a thing. He just turned around and locked his eyes with Happy's large ones. "She's been gone for 3 years, Natsu. Stop looking," Happy said, rubbing his head.

Natsu looked around. "I can't, Happy. I can't just let her go."

Happy giggled. "You liiiiike her," he said cheekily, expecting Natsu to vehemently deny this and go about his day like normal.

But Natsu didn't say anything. Happy began to get worried as a minute passed. Natsu thinking was weird.

"Natsu?" Happy squeaked. "I didn't mean anything by that, you know I never do."

Natsu looked at Happy, pure pain in his eyes. "But you're right," he said quietly, probably the most serious he has ever been.

Happy was confused. "H-huh?"

"I do," he said.

Happy was getting kind of annoyed, because Natsu's mixed signals were really mixed. "What?" He chided.

"I minph I eeah er," he said.

"Huh?" Happy padded closer. "Natsu?"

"I love her, Happy."

Happy was processing.

"Natsu! We got the next target. It's the nearest wealthy town. We need to make it there before nightfall. They always attack at midnight, so let's go now," Erza commanded.

Natsu nodded and ran towards her, Happy following close. Happy was still shocked at the confession. After all, Natsu wasn't a very serious person. But Happy knew Natsu. He knew he was telling the truth.

— _City of Carmel — _

— _Nightfall —_

"Oh, sweet land," Natsu exclaimed, hugging the concrete ground.

Gray rolled his eyes. "It was literally a 30 minute train ride. Don't be such a drama queen." Natsu didn't respond; he was too busy kissing the ground.

Gray turned toward Erza. "So, what do we do now?"

Erza shrugged. "We hide. We wait," she said, pulling out a cake.

Gray blinked. "Where did that come from?"

— _Midnight — _

Erza was eating cake as Natsu slept. Gray was his usual reserved self.

_BOOM_

Erza sat up. Natsu snorted awake. "Hey, is it time to go kick this guild's butt yet?"

"Wait," Erza whispered. "Can you see that woman over there?"

Some women had already begun to destroy mansions and buildings. "Natsu, Gray, you take the ones with the white design. I'll take the one with the red."

Gray nodded. "She's different, I'm betting it's the master." Erza nodded and was about to send them off when something weird happened.

Everything stopped. The explosions stopped, the chaos stopped, everything stopped.

"What the hell-" Gray began when a silvery, tiny voice interrupted them.

"Our master would like to fight a particular person," it said. It belonged to a small girl, her face hidden by a hood.

Natsu instinctively punched at the source of the voice, but she dodged swiftly.

"How did you find us," Erza demanded, rising to her full height. The girl smiled.

"We have our ways. Now, I would like to make a deal. We'll stop the destruction if you fight with our guild master. 'Kay?"

"Fine," Erza said, pulling out her sword. "Where is she?"

The girl's hands flew up. "Oh, no, not you! She wants to battle the pink haired dude!"

"Me?" Natsu exclaimed. "Cool! I'm all fired up!"

Erza stepped in front of Natsu. "No. I'm going."

The girl shrugged. "Sorry, she only want's the pink haired guy."

"It's salmon!"

ERza sighed. "You better win," she barked.

Natsu nodded happily. "Where is she?"

The girl grinned. "Town square!"

Natsu bolted off, leaving Erza and Gray behind. Gray nudged Erza. "For a dark guild, they're pretty nice," he remarked.

—

"Iron Dragon fist!"

The guild master dodged swiftly. She smiled.

Natsu, Gray, and Erza were almost surprised. They had all expected a smile full of hate and cruelty. Instead, the woman's smile was kind and gentle.

_Crack!_

The sound of a whip echoed loudly, snapping across Natsu's face.

A whip?

"Oi, Erza," Gray muttered. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I hope not," she murmured back.

The crack of a whip and the sound of Natsu's constant yelling went on for an hour more.

"Erza. It's her," Gray said. "I'm 100% sure." Erza just nodded.

Natsu, being both stupid and too immersed in the fight didn't notice.

"Urano Metria!"

A blinding light exploded from her, and 20 seconds later, both were laying on the ground, completely exhausted.

"What the heck was that!" Natsu yelled excitedly. "I can barely move!"

The guild master sat up. "I'm finally up to par with you," she said.

"Huh?" Natsu said stupidly. Erza and Gray glanced at each other, seeing as she was going to confess who she really was they might as well not interrupt.

The woman smiled softly. "Why don't you take a breather, Natsu."

Natsu rolled onto his stomach and rested his head on his hands so he could see her. And then it hit him.

Peaches and Cherry Blossoms.

"Lucy…?"

Lucy smiled and pulled off her hood, revealing the blonde hair Natsu had ached to see again for three years.

"Actually," she said, "I go by Licia now."

**A/N**

**I don't own FT. **

**Hey! The long awaited chapter 10 has arrived! I don't know what to do after this, so please PM me if you have any ideas on how to get them out of this awkward situation. **

**How did you like this chapter? It's literally midnight, so forgive me if it's a bit iffy. **

**And vote on the poll please! **

**-jo**


	11. Anger

Ch. 11 - Anger

!WARNING! Triggering Content Below. Skip first Section if affected!

_—__Rimoro Village—_

Sakimo's tears had gone dry. She had cried one too many in the past two years since Lucy had left permanently. Sandra was constantly using her as a punching bag. And now, Sakimo had reached her breaking point, her end.

She was done.

She brought the knife across her already scarred arm, just a little deeper and just a little lower, and a searing pain engulfed her arm. But she couldn't scream.

She stumbled out into the village, drops of blood forming constellations on the dirt pathway.

Even if she was going to die, she needed to see him one more time.

Her beloved brother.

Her lovestruck brother, who's cloudy eyes had cleared when the sunshine stumbled into his life. He was so in love, he couldn't let go of her, even when she left. Even if the lightning was back. He said he let the clouds come back, but it was painfully obvious he wanted - needed - the sunshine back.

Sakimo coughed as she saw her vision blur, and her legs collapsed. Her body fell to the dusty ground. She made out a tall figure, Rimo, sprinting toward her, screaming out the words of agony that she couldn't. A cloth was hastily bundled around her open wrist and she felt more people surround her, some standing in shock, and some standing in horror. She felt his once-loving arms wrap around her and cradle her head, screaming out in anger.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted her. _Her._ The one who had caused all this pain. The one who had brainwashed her brother and pushed him away from joy. Pushed him away from Lucy.

She wanted to tell Lucy that she was sorry; she couldn't stay strong. She had tried to take the easy way out.

"I'm sorry," she choked out, her unused voice hoarse like sandpaper as she forced out the sounds with her broken vocal chords. Sakimo saw her vision blacken. The last thing she saw before her eyes fell closed was her brother. His eyes, for once, were neither cloudy nor clear.

They were heartbroken.

—

Lucy smiled and pulled off her hood, revealing the blonde hair Natsu had ached to see again for three years. She swept off her cloak dramatically.

"Actually," she said, "I go by Licia now."

Natsu stared at Lucy. She looked much more mature, with black rimming her eyes. Her blonde hair was cut even shorter then Natsu's, but she still looked feminine, even if she wasn't the girly-girl that was afraid to fight three years ago. Even her style had altered; instead of short skirts and ribbons, she wore a studded leather jacket and black jeans. Natsu slowly took this new Lucy in, little by little.

Lucy didn't expect what was going to happen next. Lucy expected a tight hug, some happy sobbing, but no. Something else happened.

First, silence. All you could hear were the crackling of the buildings afire in the background.

Then, Natsu looked up, fire lit up his eyes. Literally. "You go by _Licia_ now?"

Lucy's smile faltered. "H-huh?" She took a step forward.

Natsu's gaze was frighteningly serious. "Three years. Not _one_ letter, not _one _message, not even a freaking chapter 11 for Levy?!" Gray and Erza were taken aback.

Lucy blinked. She had visualized this moment _much_ more different then what was happening now. "I was… I was kind of busy…" She stuttered.

She glanced at Lupa and jerked her head away. Lupa nodded uncertainly under her black hood and whistled. Emerald leapt through the flames and the 17 women loaded up on his back. Lupa gave her a look before receiving a nod from the blonde mage, and Emerald sped away.

Natsu clenched his fists. "I see that," he spat. "With your new _guild,_ apparently."

Lucy felt an unfamiliar sting in the back of her eyes. She blinked violently. "Things got kind of confusing."

Natsu laughed bitterly. "Yeah, so confusing you couldn't even say goodbye." Natsu shook his head, getting up from the ground. His body was covered with a multitude of bruises, yet his eyes were wild.

Lucy frowned. "What?" She asked, dumbfounded.

Natsu scowled. "I thought we were partners. I thought we were _best friends," _Natsu scoffed. "I guess not," he muttered.

Lucy froze in her spot as his harsh words hung in the air. Gray decided that this was the time to interrupt Natsu's atypical behaviour.

"Oi, Natsu," he said cautiously. "Calm down, the only thing that matters is that she's back, right? Stop being such an idiot."

Lucy gave him a grateful look and Gray smiled back. But apparently, Natsu didn't feel the same way.

Natsu looked at Gray with such a glare that it literally burned holes through his shirt. Gray opened his mouth to argue but decided not to test an angry Natsu's ability to set things on fire. Erza, however, had different ideas.

"Nats-" She was interrupted by Gray's hand slapping on top of her mouth. Luckily, Natsu was too focused on Lucy to notice.

"There's no point trying to argue with him. Erza, we gotta go," Gray commanded. "Natsu has a reason for being stupid right now. I'll tell you in a second."

Erza stared at Gray for a second and then huffed. She gave Lucy a quick wave and a smile before marching away. Gray and Happy ran after her, leaving the pair alone in the trashed town square.

Lucy stepped forward. "Natsu, please, I didn't mean to hurt you," she cried.

"Do you know how badly I wanted to chase after you?" Natsu screamed. "I would wake up in the middle of the night and tie myself to my house so I wouldn't run after you!" Natsu sighed. "But I didn't."

Lucy exhaled sharply. "Why didn't you?" She asked quietly.

"Because you said not to."

Lucy was speechless.

"And you know what?" Natsu exclaimed. "I was okay with it, for a while. I was fine with you leaving to train. I pushed through a couple months, expecting you to be back any moment. But you didn't come back." Natsu ran a hand through his hair. "I waited for you for three years. Three years. Did you even miss me at all?"

Lucy's mouth fell open. "I did. I missed you. I thought about you everyday. Every night I had nightmares. Every night I would think about the life I left behind. I wanted to go home every single day," she cried, "But I couldn't. I was afraid I wasn't strong enough. I was afraid you wouldn't accept me back," Lucy confessed.

"It's Fairy Tail, Lucy. We would accept anyone back," he stated angrily.

"If you accept anyone back, why are you acting like this?" Lucy shot back.

"Because I love you!" He shouted. "And why did you even leave in the first place? You were already perfect to me!"

Lucy faltered at this newfound information. "Uh, " Lucy said stupidly.

Natsu, being, well, Natsu, didn't even notice what had slipped out during his outburst. "And you even betrayed Fairy Tail! You betrayed your home by joining another guild! Not just any guild, a Dark Guild! What the hell, Lucy?"

Lucy smiled weakly, Natsu's previous words echoing in her head. "So… Did I betray Fairy Tail, or did I betray you?" She murmured.

Natsu paused as he let her words sink in.

"You betrayed me," he replied quietly. There was a moment of silence as Natsu's anger died down. He stared at Lucy again. He didn't see the strong, confident woman he had been fighting with earlier. Instead he saw someone vulnerable and small, someone with feelings. Someone who he had hurt. And Natsu hated himself for hurting the girl he loved.

"I'm… I'm sorry." he blurted. "This was so pointless… I - I just don't know how to approach you again…"

Lucy smiled, relieved. "Yeah, I got the idea," she replied jokingly.

He took a few steps closer, his face softening and the flames in his eyes dying out. "Listen, Luce, I gotta tell you something," he said. His voice was no longer harsh and sharp, but soft and quiet.

"I know. And before you say anything," Lucy said hurriedly. "I'm so, so sorry. I thought that if I contacted you guys it would influence me to go back and I didn't mean to betray you when I joined the other guild. It's just that it was hard to say no and they looked so sad and i promise we wont destroy any cities near here and - eh?"

Natsu was moving forward, bending down slightly. He placed his hand on her head and pressed his forehead to hers.

Something about this felt slightly nostalgic.

He hesitantly gazed into her chocolate eyes before whispering, "Oh, what the hell."

He leaned in slowly.

And Lucy didn't dodge.

_—__Meanwhile— _

Erza was tapping her foot impatiently. "So? What is this so called reason?" She demanded.

Gray sighed. "Do you not know how Natsu feels about Lucy?"

Erza rolled her eyes. "Of course I know. Everyone knows. _He_ just doesn't know. But then shouldn't he be happy?" She crossed her arms at the absurdity of the whole situation.

"Yeah," Gray muttered. "That dumb ass is just confused, I think."

Happy pased around worriedly. "Actually, he knows." Gray looked down at the blue cat surprisingly.

"Eh? Actually?" Erza and Gray asked simultaneously. Happy nodded.

"He told me earlier," Happy replied. "He's probably just confused about how to approach her after his newfound feelings."

Gray scoffed. "What an idiot."

Erza shot him a glare. "I could say the same thing about you."

Gray's grin froze on his face. "What are you sayin'?" He said accusingly.

"Oh, come on now. Don't tell me you don't feel the same way about Juvia as she does for you," Erza chided. Gray frowned.

"H-hey, this was supposed to be about Natsu," Gray stammered.

Erza chuckled. "Don't you think you should give her a straight answer?"

Gray stiffened. "W-well, I could say the same thing about you about Jellal," he shot back victoriously.

Erza, however, handled the situations quite well.

She grabbed his neck and pinned him against the wall. "What was that?" She asked sweetly. Happy stifled some giggles.

Gray was about to attempt to answer when, thankfully, their conversation was interrupted by… Natsu?

"Natsu!" Happy exclaimed, hugging the Dragon Slayer tightly.

Natsu's face was strange. No, not strange… Impassive and emotionless. No, not that either. Gray searched Natsu's eyes hard. Natsu tried hard to look like a brick wall, but Gray spotted a flicker of… bashfulness? _'Uh, okay then,' _ Gray thought.

Happy was still clinging tightly onto the Dragon Slayer. His eyes opened wide and suddenly he spoke. "Tell me you didn't kill her," he whispered, looking at the mage.

"Not exactly," he replied, the corners of his lips twitching. "Uh, let's just go home now. She said she won't destroy anything near here anymore, so we're done here."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" Gray exploded.

Erza heard a whistle. "What…?" She said to herself. She glanced at Gray and they both rushed out to the square.

The ran out just in time to see Lucy speed away on her… wait, was that a giant panther? Erza squinted at Lucy's disappearing figure. She nudged Gray.

Gray stomped his foot childishly. "Yeah, I know, she's gone again and we didn't get to say goodbye _again_ and-"

"Idiot," she said exasperatedly. "Loo- oh, wait, she's gone. Wow, that thing was fast." Gray squinted at the dimly lit city.

"Yeah, I know, she's gone. So what?" He said irritably.

Erza sighed. "You didn't see, did you."

Gray frowned. "See what? I didn't see nothin'."

Erza grinned. "She was smiling."

—

The ended up walking back to the previously attacked city, Minno, much to Erza and Gray's distaste. Still, they figured they could worm the truth out of Natsu better if he wasn't busy throwing up.

"Come on, Natsu, tell us what happened," Happy whined.

"Yeah, stop being a mindless goon and tell us what happened," Gray prodded.

Natsu had given up his facade of being an emotionless brick wall long ago, and was now walking casually with his arms crossed behind his head, staring dreamily up into the sky. A ridiculous grin was plastered on his face.

"Natsuuuuuuu!" Happy complained loudly.

Gray took off his shirt and shoved it in Natsu's face. "Look at these holes! You owe me an answer," Gray shouted in Natsu's ear.

"It's not like you ever wear it anyway," Natsu replied.

Gray huffed, unable, for once, to think of a comeback.

Happy pouted. "Natsu! I'm your best friend! You gotta tell me! It's in the rules!"

Natsu just smiled even wider.

Gray suddenly had a great idea. "Erza, go punch some sense into him, get him to tell us what happened."

Erza shook her head, smiling. "No, I know what happened."

Gray stopped walking. "What the hell! And you didn't tell us?"

Happy overheard and flew beside Gray. "Yeah, tell us!" Happy said eagerly.

Erza sighed. "How can you not know?"

Gray grunted in frustration. "Know what!?"

Erza rolled her eyes. "You guys are so dense. Obviously, she's in love with him too."

_—__I wanted to end it here but it's too short so LINE BREAK hehe— _

Sakimo's eyes fluttered open. Where was she? She heard a rustle to her left. She slowly turned her head to her left. Sitting on a stump was her brother, head buried in his hands.

She coughed. Rimo looked up suddenly, relief clear in his eyes. "Oh, my god, you're alright," he exclaimed, breathing out. He reached forward and hugged her tightly. "Rest, because you lost a lot of blood," he instructed.

She nodded.

"So, now what I know you're alright," he murmured, "Why the hell did you do that!?" He screamed. Sakimo's eyes widened in fear. "And what the hell is up with those scars all over your arm!?"

Sakimo's eyes looked down to study her arm. It was wrapped heavily in bandages.

"Is it because Sandra is back?!" He shouted. Sakimo sunk into her pillow. Rimo raising his voice was an extreme rarity.

Rimo sighed and sat back down. He rubbed his head and ran his hands through his hair. "Look, I know you don't like her, but she tries okay? She tries. It would help if you gave in some effort too." His voice was sincere. He believed her? Oh, dear. This would not work out.

More then anything, Sakimo wanted to tell him the truth. Sudden realization hit her like a train. Right before she blacked out, she spoke. For the first time in, well, a long time, she spoke. She could tell him the truth, and there wasn't a paper that Sandra could find. She could use her voice.

She coughed again, desperately trying to speak. But for some reason, she couldn't. What had Sandra done to her while she was asleep? Not one word. Not even a sound.

So all she could do was nod her head.

**A/N:**

**I don't own FT. **

**How was this chapter? A lotta character development, if ya know what I mean. ;) Review! **

**And vote on the poll! I may write an alternate ending so I need feedback. And don't take that the wrong way, this story isn't ending anytime soon! **

**-jo**


	12. A Burn

Ch. 12 - A Burn

Lucy tried to keep a poker face on when she arrived at Night Pythoness' meeting place.

Lupa ran up to Lucy and hugged her tightly. "Licia! Oh, I'm so glad you're safe," she breathed. Lucy bit the inside of her cheek and patted Lupa on the shoulder as more guild members gathered around them. Lupa finally let go of Lucy and stepped back.

They all began to stare at her strangely. Lucy frowned.

"What…?"

A teen named Rini with Nature Magic giggled. Lucy was getting annoyed.

"What?"

Lupa's suppressed laughter burst out, and the other women followed suit. Lucy's tisked, and her patience broke.

"What the hell is going on?!" She screamed. The women fell silent, but there were still red faces and stifled giggles. She gazed at Lupa with such an intense glare that Lupa was too scared to even look at Lucy. "Tell me, Lupa," Lucy said sweetly, "What are you guys so _contentedly_ laughing about?"

Lupa sucked at poker faces, so she pushed forward another girl to answer. The girl, Rini, coughed and took a minute to compose herself. "You-," she choked out. "You have a… A burn on your face," she answered. Lucy paused. That must have been Natsu when they were fighting. What was the big deal?

"So?" Lucy shrugged. "It's not like I was fighting a Fire Dragon Slayer or anything, was I?" she said, her voice oozing sarcasm. Lupa snorted.

"You should probably look in the mirror," Lupa retorted.

Lucy paused. Wait… What he did before she left couldn't have left a burn… Right?

Lucy, despite how much she didn't want her guild laughing at her, she turned and ran for her canvas bag. She heard the guild erupting in laughter behind her has she dived for her bag and rummaged through. After a bit of searching, she found the mirror that Sakimo had given to her with the whole bag. For a second, Lucy held on to the small hope that it hadn't left a burn.

Her small hope was squashed as she looked into the mirror and saw the burn on her face.

Now, a burn could have meant anything, but _this_ burn could have only meant _one thing._

That Natsu had kissed her firmly on her cheek and that he had so stupidly left a burn. The burn was in the shape of Natsu's lips, and now it was on her face. _On her freaking face._

Lucy almost smiled. _'I guess in the heat of the moment I didn't even notice,_' she thought girlishly. She replayed the situation in her head.

_— __Earlier —_

He leaned in slowly.

And Lucy didn't dodge.

He pressed his lips firmly to her cheek, holding it there for a second before realizing what he was doing. Natsu and Lucy both felt the heat of blood rushing to their faces. Was that… a burning smell?

He suddenly jerked away, his face hotter then his flames. Lucy's face was equally as red, rivalling that of a ripe tomato. They both began to speak at the same time.

"Sorry abou-"

"So, abou-"

The both fell into an inconvenient silence. Natsu, for once, was as at a loss for words. Lucy took the moment to speak, choosing to disregard what had just took place.

"So we won't come to any cities around here anymore," she said flatly.

"Okay," Natsu replied, scratching his head. "Oh, and, uh, your new hair is cool, I guess. So is your face," Natsu blurted. Internally, Natsu punched himself. _'What the hell kind of compliment is that? I'm so dumb,' _ he thought. "I meant the black stuff," he quickly said.

"Oh, thanks," she said, smiling. She self consciously ran her fingers through her hair. There was a woman in her guild with dagger magic who would cut her hair every month or two. "You look well too… " In her head, Lucy slapped herself. _'What am I thinking? This wasn't supposed to happen! I was supposed to act cool about this…'_

"And… Y'know," she coninued, "I - I guess I could come visit the guild in a couple weeks…"

"Really?" Natsu exclaimed. Lucy nodded, smiling crookedly.

Natsu grinned widely and then, not thinking (as usual), wrapped his arms around her waist and crashed his lips to hers in the burning city of Minno.

—

"Licia?" A voice wormed it's way into her thoughts and broke Lucy out of her daydream. Lucy blinked.

"Yes?" She replied hastily, dropping the mirror back into her bag. A young woman peeked through the bushes. Junna, with healing powers.

"Um… I can speed up the healing of that, heh, burn for you if you like." Junna smiled.

"Oh, okay… Sure. And, uh, thanks." Junna smiled again and nodded.

"In case you're wondering," Junna began, "None of the other guild members are judging you. We all just didn't expect that guy to be, well, a guy from your past," she murmured, stretching her hands over Lucy's kiss-shaped burn.

Lucy snorted. "Why do you think I chose him to fight me?"

Junna shrugged. "We all just thought that you just made a random decision."

"Huh."

Junna healed the rest of her burn in silence and Lucy thanked her one last time before going to face the wild animals that was also her guild.

The chatter stopped when Lucy stepped beside the river. Lucy eyed Lupa, who was still giggling.

"We're gonna take a break for a while. Just chill for a bit," she announced. The ladies nodded. "And then," she said hesitantly, "We're gonna go and visit my old friends," she declared. The women were silent for a minute before all nodding in agreement.

"This will be in a town, and when we get there, do not destroy _anything._ I repeat, _anything." _Some of the women looked a little disappointed, but Lucy continued. "This place is like my home," she continued. "And some of my friends can be a little bit… rowdy…"

After Lucy finished her speech, the found a clearing in the forestry to settle down for the rest of the night. Lupa rolled over to face Lucy. "Hey, Licia," Lupa murmured.

"Mm?"

"Do you love that guy? The one with the pink hair?" She asked softly, her face innocently curious. Lucy smiled.

"Yeah. I do," Lucy replied, smiling softly. Lupa smiled devilishly. Lucy frowned at the sight of that mischievious smile.

"So, we already know he kissed you on the cheek…" Lupa grinned. "So what I want to know now is that is he kissed you any where else… You know, somewhere around here maybe?" She circled her own mouth with her fingers wonderingly.

Lucy blushed. "No, no, of course not," she replied, trying to remain calm. Lupa sighed.

"Aw man, I thought tha-"

Lucy shushed her by placing a slender finger to her mouth. "Lupa, it's 3 o'clock in the morning. Let's drop this and catch some sleep while we can, okay?" Lupa pouted but was fast asleep in a matter of seconds.

Lucy exhaled. Thank _god_ nobody in the guild was telepathic.

But, however, there was a mind-reader in Fairy Tail.

_— __The next morning — _

"How was your first S-Class job together, guys?" Mirajane asked, smiling.

Erza smiled. "It went well."

"Oh, that's great," Mira replied. "Do you want anything?"

Erza nodded. "Yes. Can I have a strawberry cake?"

Mira nodded absentmindedly. She handed Erza her cake and turned to Gray, who was talking to Warren. Mira leaned in to listen to their conversation.

"… So ever since then, Flame Brain over there has been livin' in his own little world."

"I see," Warren muttered. "So, you want me to dig around his head for a bit and get the gossip?"

Gray nodded.

"What's this gossip I'm hearing about?"

Gray turned and looked at Mira in surprise. "Erza didn't tell you? The guild leader of the dark guild Night Pythoness, the job we went on, is Lucy." Mira froze.

"Lucy?" Mira said.

"Lucy," Gray replied.

"Wow! She really trained hard then," Mira exclaimed. "Who else knows about this?"

Gray shrugged. "About every one else," he replied, turning back to Warren. "So, can you do it?"

Warren shook his head. "I don't know, I'm almost afraid to go in his head," he said. "But I'll do it. I wanna know what's up with him anyway."

Warren breathed slowly and pressed his fingers to his temples. Gray and Mira leaned forward in anticipation. He gasped.

"Well? What did you find?" Mira asked excitedly. Warren looked at her in joy and jumped on a table.

"Guys!" He hollered. "Lucy's coming to visit soon!"

The guild froze. Being very trusting in their telepathic comrade, they all began to party.

"Lucy! I'm gonna drink to your return!" Cana yelled drunkenly.

Warren was about to join the party when Gray stopped him. "Wait, Warren, can you find out more? This is great, but it still doesn't explain why Natsu is in la-la land."

Warren nodded firmly and sat back down, pressing his fingers to his temple again. He glanced at the Dragon Slayer, unaware of the celebrations around him. A minute passed. A bead of sweat appeared on Warren's forehead, and then, unexpectedly, his face turned beet red.

"Warren? Are you alright? I'll get you a glass of water," Mira said worriedly, running to the sink.

Warren just sat there, shocked. "I didn't know he was mature enough to do something like that…" He murmured.

Gray shifted in his seat, alarmed. "Oi, oi. What did you see?"

Warren burst out laughing as Mira appeared with a glass of water. He gulped it down in a few seconds.

"What did you see?" Gray tried again as Warren swiped tears from his eyes.

"I-it's N-Natsu!" Warren choked out between gasps of laughter. "He… he…."

"What the hell did he do!?" He shouted, getting annoyed.

Warren jumped at the sudden outburst. "Well, I don't think I can describe something like this, so I'll just send you the image I found into your head," he replied.

"Send it to mine too!" Mira smiled excitedly.

Warren nodded. "Roger that." Warren placed two fingers on his temple again. Gray leaned back in his chair and waited for the image to come to mind. Mira rested her head on her hand, leaning against the counter.

Almost simultaneously, they both had very different and very intense reactions. First, Mira screamed for Lisanna and then almost fainted on the counter. Gray turned bright red, and looked at Natsu, lounging in his chair.

"Was that-" Gray began.

Warren nodded.

Gray and Mira had both received the whole event in their heads through Natsu's eyes.

"Holy shit," was all Gray could muster.

Lisanna had arrived at the counter, balancing two trays of beer empty mugs on one arm. "Hey! Isn't this great?" She gestured to the celebration that surrounded them.

Mira grinned. "Warren, send her the thing," Mira commanded. Warren nodded.

The two trays crashed to the ground.

"Was that-" Lisanna began.

Mira nodded.

"Hey, that was my exact reaction," Gray remarked.

Lisanna didn't hear because she had bolted to Natsu.

"Natsu!" She shouted, shaking his shoulders. Mira stood next to her, looking equally as terrifying. "Tell me everything that happened!"

Mira nodded enthusiastically. "I'm so proud of you!"

Natsu just lolled back in his chair, a ridiculous smile on his face. Even a fool could tell he was in love. Especially since Natsu didn't even try to hide it.

Gray and Warren looked at each other and sighed. "Let the interrogation begin," Gray muttered, taking a swig of his drink.

_— __Meanwhile —_

Lucy stretched and forced her tired eyes open. They had got back late last night, so she only got about 2 hours of sleep because her internal alarm didn't allow her to sleep in. She smiled at the sleeping guild sprawled out around her.

Right now, at this moment, they didn't look like the dark guild Night Pythoness. They didn't look like the strong wizards that had brought cities down to nothing but rubble. They looked like normal women; innocence painted onto their faces. They looked like her friends, her family. These women were the reason Lucy was still living now.

"I'll let you guys sleep in for today," she whispered, heading off to the river. Emerald opened his eyes at the sound of her getting up. She smiled. "I'm just going to the river; you can go back to sleep." Emerald nodded and yawned.

She began to walk to the river. It was a short walk, only about 5 minutes. She took her shoes off and sat on the riverbank, dangling her feet in. She tried hard not to, but eventually she caved and began to daydream.

"He kissed me. He _kissed _me," she grinned, covering her mouth. She could still practically _feel_ the tingles on her lips. After all these years, she never expected for him to slowly fall in love with her. She could hardly believe it. Back when she was still living in Magnolia, he would always somehow get into her house and take up all the bed space. He would always walk in when she was changing and go through her clothes and together, he and Happy would go and poke her underwear as if they were corpses.

Long story short, they knew practically everything about each other. They were basically always around each other. And yet, the moment when he decided to kiss her was in the flaming, trashed city.

The thought of the kiss again brought blood rushing up to Lucy's face. She hurriedly cupped her hands together and splashed her face violently with the ice-cold water.

She shook her head roughly and wiped her stupid smile off her face, but before long, the girlish smile was plastered back on. Despite herself, she giggled. She _giggled._ She slapped her hand on top of her mouth.

"Licia?" A voice called out.

Lucy coughed. "I'm over here," she muttered.

A purple-haired head poked out of the bushes. Lucy squinted in the early rays of the sun. It was Pam, who could manipulate inanimate objects. "Uh, we're all awake now… The girls just wanted to know what we're gonna be doing…?" She asked.

Lucy paused. How long had she been daydreaming? She looked up into the sky. She gasped. She had been sitting on the riverbank for an hour! The blonde quickly stood up and dried her feet. She slipped them back into her boots. "We," she said, tying her boots up, "are going to take a nice, leisurely walk to my old home," she answered.

About two hours later, Night Pythoness was taking a walk to Magnolia.

"I thought we were taking a break!" Lupa whined. Lucy looked at her, surprised.

"This is a break! We aren't doing anything except walking," Lucy pointed out. "We aren't even carrying any of our stuff. I gave everything to Virgo to store in the spirit world for the time being."

Lupa pouted. "But can't we at least ride on Emerald?"

"Nope," Lucy answered, popping the 'p'. "We still gotta keep in shape." Lucy looked into the sky, checking the sun's position. "Hm… In about thirty minutes we're gonna start running. We'll go in intervals of two hours, okay?" Lucy said, smiling warmly.

The women groaned. "How can someone so nice be so brutal!" Rini muttered.

"I could just teleport us there," Telli said. Even though she was only a 16 year old girl, her teleportation skills were impeccable. Her ability extended to teleporting others without even touching them.

"You haven't ever been there before, so how can you teleport us there?" Lucy pointed out. "Besides, we need the exercise. I don't want us to get out of shape."

"Ugh," Rini groaned.

_— __Three and a half weeks later —_

_— __The border of Magnolia —_

"Gate of the Virgin, I summon thee. Virgo," Lucy said quietly, not wanting anybody from the city to hear her.

"Punishment, princess?"

The women giggled. Lucy sighed. "No, Virgo. I just wanted you to take our cloaks. I'm afraid we're gonna be to… intimidating with our special cloaks on," she explained.

Virgo nodded. "Yes, princess. As you wish, Princess." Lucy rolled her eyes.

"If you don't mind me asking, princess," Virgo said as women handed her their cloaks, "What are you going to do about the Jinsoku?"

Lucy blinked. "The what?"

Virgo gestured to Emerald.

"Oh, yeah," Lucy said. She had momentarily forgotten Emerald's species name. She hardly ever used it, after all. "I guess he'll just have to come with us and wait outside the guild building," she shrugged. "We'll see how it goes."

Virgo nodded and then bowed. "I shall go back now," Virgo said in her monotone way. Lucy smiled and sent her back.

"Okay…." Lucy began. "Let's do this," she breathed. "And _don't_ touch anything. _Anything." _

The women nodded. Lucy turned and began to walk but she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Alice, a pretty young woman with transformation magic. She was also quite skilled in transforming people physically. Basically, she was a aspiring beautician. "I think we should fix you up a bit before you go and see that guy again…" she murmured. The rest of the guild nodded devilishly. For such sweet looking women, they could really pull of the demonic look. Lucy didn't even have time to say crap before they held her down and let Alice do her torture.

An hour and a half later, Alice stepped back, admiring her work. She fumbled for a mirror.

"I gotta say, Licia," Cydia murmured. She was a petite woman with immense strength, contrasting vastly with her physical appearance. "You look damn good."

Lucy sighed and grabbed the mirror from Alice's hands. She actually did look damn good. "Well, this is all creds to our personal beautician here, so… Thanks Alice," she said, and grinned crookedly.

Alice smiled back, relieved. "No prob. Now whaddya say we get goin'?"

Lucy nodded and stepped into Magnolia, the Night Pythoness on her heels.

**A/N: **

Eyyyy. How was this? Drop a line! :D

Vote on the poll too!

Plus if anyone would like to be my beta reader because I SUCK I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks! PM me.

You know something's wrong with you when you start fangirling over your own fanfiction. And forgive me if it was boring! I have interesting stuff planned so sit tight! I thought it was interesting if you know what I mean. *wiggles eyebrows*

And guess what.

NINETY REVIEWS GUYS LIKE HOLY CRUD HOW-

I CANT EVEN PUT MY THANKS INTO WORDS GUYS LIKE UGHEJKSD

jeezus ;A; im almost crying

-jo


	13. Operation Mistletoe

Ch. 13 - Operation Mistletoe

It was quite an interesting walk to Fairy Tail. Lucy stared straight ahead with the guild (and Emerald) in a dramatic V-shaped formation behind her. She didn't even have to look to know that all eyes were glued onto them as they stalked awkwardly down the city.

Emerald could barely fit into the street itself, and kept knocking over stands and market stalls, but nobody dared to yell.

Overall, it was a very dramatic decent until Alice tripped.

She tripped over a rock while winking at a guy and fell flat on her face, lying there for a long 10 seconds while everyone registered what happened. Lucy snorted, and kept walking as Alice got up, her face red as a tomato.

Before she knew it, Lucy arrived at the guild and a wave of nostalgia washed over her. The guild crowded around her. "Is this it?" Lupa breathed.

Lucy didn't answer because tears were running down her face. Nobody noticed yet.

"Holy crap, it's huge!" Rini crowed.

Lucy sniffed, blinking her eyes rapidly. _'I guess old habits die hard,'_ she thought bitterly.

"Are you re - Licia?" Lupa asked worriedly. "Are you okay?"

Lucy smiled, hastily wiping the river of tears that had run down her face. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just really…" Lucy exhaled. "It's really overwhelming to take all this in at once."

Lupa smiled and opened her mouth to reply when Alice appeared out of nowhere, screaming and wiping Lucy's face roughly. "Thank _god_ I used waterproof make up!"

Lucy laughed. She was about make a comeback about her being so rude to her guild master when the tall doors of the guild swung open, revealing Levy and Gajeel leaving together very suspiciously.

Levy's hair had gotten longer, reaching down to her chest. Gajeel looked the same as he had when he left, but there was one difference. Gajeel and Levy were _holding hands_.

Levy stopped and stared at the strange scene of this peculiar pink haired lady vigorously rubbing the face of a very familiar blonde lady. The pink haired lady's mouth was open in mid scream, but she kept rubbing the very familiar blonde lady's face all the while staring at Levy.

Gajeel got it before Levy did. He squinted his eyes. "Bunny Girl?" He said incredulously.

Lucy sighed and pushed Alice away, mentally thanking her for putting on water proof make up. "Well, there goes my dramatic entrance," she said sarcastically.

Levy had tears running down her face as she threw her arms around Lucy's neck. Lucy planted her feet to the ground, resisting dodging and she wrapped her arms around her best friend. She felt Levy's tears spill onto her neck. No words were spoken; the tears cascading down both their faces said enough.

After a couple minutes, Levy finally let go of Lucy and grasped her by the shoulders. Lucy quickly rubbed her eyes, getting rid of the tears. Levy stared at her for a couple minutes before saying, "You're back, Lu-chan."

Lucy smiled affectionately. "I'm home," she whispered. She didn't get a chance to say anything else because Fairy Tail had erupted in screams of, "You're back!" and "Who's that!" and "What the hell is that black thing!?"

Lucy stepped into the guild. "Hi, guys," she said.

Lucy was overwhelmed by the amount of hugs and screams in her ear, but they all suddenly stopped.

"Lucy?" Master Macarov whispered, standing on the counter. He hopped off and launched himself with his titan legs at Lucy, hugging her tightly. She laughed and hugged him back._ "Wahhhhhhh! _Lucy's back you idiots! It's party time!" He screamed.

The guild shouted in agreement. It was then Lucy noticed Night Pythoness standing awkwardly in the doorway, with Emerald. "Sorry it's a bit rowdy," Lucy muttered.

Lupa stared at the guild partying like there was no tomorrow. "Is this how a guild acts?"

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Nope! Just this one," she laughed.

A leaf poked out of the collar of Rini's shirt, something that happened when she was really nervous. "So, uh, what do we do now?"

Lucy shrugged nonchalantly, nonchalantly plucking the leaf out of her collar. "Go and party, I guess," she suggested. "But no drinking," she warned. The guild nodded excitedly and began to enter when she added, "And uh, don't tell them about the guild…" The women nodded understandingly and disappeared into the crowd.

Lucy went up to Emerald. "You're gonna have stay outside, Emer," she whispered, patting his nose affectionately. Emerald rolled his eyes. "Ugh, don't be sassy now. I'll come hang out with you later. Everyone else is probably gonna be passed out anyway." Emerald nodded and gently nuzzled her. He suddenly looked up, and then pushed her over forcibly with his nose.

"Kya!" Lucy exclaimed as she fell back, giving Emerald a dirty look.

_Thump._

Before she could land, she was caught by a pair of two strong arms. In the corner of her eye she could see the red Insigna on the right bicep. Realization hit her like a freight train when she saw Emerald giving her a suggestive look. "You little shi-"

Emerald promptly turned around and flopped down to the ground, sending an unlucky passerby running.

Lucy quickly got back up and brushed herself off. She slowly turned around to face her rescuer.

"Oh. Hey, Natsu."

"Hey, Luce."

The guild behind them paused their partying, a first for them. Natsu and Lucy stood there, chatting awkwardly. Well, Lucy was acting weird. Natsu had long since reverted back to his usual state, loud and oblivious, although if one looked closely, there was a faint blush dusted across his cheeks.

Mira and Lisanna smiled at each other devilishly. They gave a thumbs up to Warren, who smiled and signalled Happy from across the guild. Happy glanced at the cunning sisters and giggled. He flew quietly to the doorway. Guild members snickered and mouths fell open when they saw what Happy was carrying.

Both Natsu and Lucy sensed something coming towards them, but didn't think much of it and continued mumbling to each other.

They realized something was floating above their heads when Happy couldn't contain his giggles any longer. It was a mistletoe. Gajeel and Levy appeared out of nowhere, Gajeel behind Natsu and Levy behind Lucy.

"Look! A mistletoe! Even though it's not Christmas, nonetheless it's still a mistletoe! You know what you have to do!"

"Sorry, Lu-chan," Levy whispered, smiling as she gave Lucy a nice push.

"Eh?"

"Gehe." Gajeel grabbed Natsu and gave his a slightly rougher push.

"The hell, Ga-"

Their faces collided. Literally.

Their foreheads bashed together so hard both of them staggered back, rubbing the matching red spots on their foreheads. The guild was quiet before erupting into laughter. Night Pythoness, however, shrunk into a corner together.

Elfman glanced at them. "What are you guys doing, hiding down there! Be a man!"

Lupa shook her head fearfully. "You made her angry. She's gonna do something drastic. She never hurts us, but if we do something really really bad and she gets really really angry she'll do something really really scary," Lupa rambled.

Rinni sighed. "What she's saying is just to expect the wall to be broken or something,"

Elfman's eyes widened. Evergreen laughed. "Lucy would never do something like that," she said, as if stating a fact.

Lupa's eyes hardened. "You wouldn't know, she was gone for three years," she shot back.

Evergreen scowled, at a loss.

"Ugh," Lucy muttered, rubbing her forehead.

"You pickin' a fight, Gajeel?!" Natsu screamed, jumping at Gajeel. Gajeel grinned and drew his fist back.

Lucy, on the other hand, was standing there rubbing her head, trying to control herself. Levy ran up to her worriedly. "I'm so sorry, Lucy! Are you okay?" She asked, holding Lucy's shoulders. Lucy smiled sadistically.

"Would you, by any chance, know who planned this?" She asked, bittersweet.

Levy was surprised. "Uh, yeah. It was mainly Mira and Lisanna," she answered.

Lucy grinned. "So, Mira, Lisanna!" She hollered. The laughing stopped at the hostility of her voice. "I hear you planned this? This 'Operation Mistletoe'," she yelled.

Mira smiled. "Yep, it was us!" she replied sweetly, apparently having no regrets.

Lucy growled under her breath. Lucy couldn't hurt Mira. How could she? Mira was too nice. Lucy sighed. She walked up to the brawl Natsu and Gejeel were having. She studied them for a moment, and then suddenly jumped in and punched Gajeel in the face, sending him flying.

Fairy Tail was surprised. Not just anybody could send Gajeel flying.

"Aw, come on! I was just about to win!" Natsu exclaimed childishly.

Lucy smiled in a creepy way. "Wanna see a kiss, do you? I'll show you a freakin' kiss!" She screamed. She grabbed Natsu's scarf and pulled him forcefully toward her. Just before their lips connected, she whispered, "Sorry," and then she promptly punched him in the gut.

"Just kidding!" Lucy said cheekily.

_— __Meawhile, Rimoro Village —_

"Rimo, please," Sandra pleaded, fake sadness oozing throughout her voice. "You must help me get my guild back." Sandra turned away and squeezed tears out of her grey eyes. "She's probably treating them like slaves, the poor girls!"

Rimo scowled. "How would we even know where to look? Lucy," he spat her name out of her mouth like it was some sort of virus, "has left without a trace."

Sandra smiled. "We can find her." She flipped her hair over her shoulder. "I know where she is," she whispered.

"You do?" Rimo said, a little too eagerly. "I mean, great. We can go and get your guild back, now."

Sandra smiled. "Wonderful," she purred. "When shall we leave?"

"In about two weeks. I must make sure the village is ready for our leave," he murmured, getting up from his chair. He stopped at the doorway. "We don't have to hurt her, right…?" He asked quietly.

Sandra almost began to scowl but she quickly plastered a smile onto her face. "It depends on how much she wants my guild," she replied.

"I see…" he muttered, disappearing out the door.

As soon as Rimo left, Sandra sighed contentedly. "Now I can finally kill that bitch," she said, leaning back into the wall. "And after that I'll take Fairy Tail…" She murmured. She squealed excitedly.

_'__Villains always think they're alone…. but there is always someone listening in to their plans. I must warn Lucy,' _Sakimo thought as she crouched under the window. She quietly left and entered her own hut, quickly packing her things into a bag. She stocked it with some freshly made parchments, and then she took out one of her jewelled daggers. She took a small, pointy knife and slowly began to pick out the jewels from the handle of her dagger.

_'__I hope this is enough for the train fare…'_ She thought. As soon as she was done, she slid the precious jewels into a small pocket of her bag, and then secured the bag closed and shoved it behind her bed. Glancing out the window to the darkening sky, she swiftly got out a piece of paper and wrote a small note to Rimo.

_'__im sorry, but i cant take it anymore. im sorry. i love you. goodbye, rimo,'_ it said.

This was a shot in the dark, like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Sakimo was smart, however, and put two and two together and decided to head to Fairy Tail to find Lucy. After all, Sandra did say that she was going to take Fairy Tail. And how did Sakimo know where she was, anyway?

In the stillness of the night, nobody saw the village girl creep out from her hut and flee down the narrow path that fragmented the forest. Despite her thin figure, she was quite fit and ran all the way down. The train arrived shortly after she did, and the driver was quite surprised to see a passenger, let a lone a mute girl dressed in animal skins. Nonetheless, he didn't ask questions and she boarded the train.

_— __8 days later, late morning — _

Sakimo got off at the place, at Magnolia. She squinted in the bright sunlight, amazed at the tall buildings and people.

So. Many. People. Sakimo had never seen so many people in one place before.

She shook her head. Now wasn't the time to be amazed. She needed to warn Fairy Tail, and more importantly, Lucy. She scanned her surroundings. She could feel people staring at the strange girl holding a sign that read, _'do you know where fairy tail is?'_, wearing animal furs.

Eventually, a young woman decided to help the strange girl out, pointing her in the general direction.

Sakimo bowed her head in thanks and then quickly dashed down the crowded streets, leaving the woman confused and frazzled.

By the time Sakimo got to the guild, she was out of breath and the sun was setting. She raised a hand to pound on the door when the door swung open, revealing the infamous Celestial Mage and 17 women behind her.

Lucy was caught in mid-laugh, but she stopped abruptly when she saw the sad looking girl standing in front of her.

"Sakimo?" Lucy whispered.

Sakimo smiled weakly before collapsing to the ground.

**A/N: **

Hello there! I hope you all had a very merry christmas or whatever you celebrate! What did you guys get?

Guess what I got for Christmas!

100 REVIEWS! ;u; You guys, I cannot tell you how this makes me feel. I never expected to reach this high a number! I know it isn't much compared to some other writers, but to me this is like winning the lottery. And I can't even buy lottery tickets yet so that's saying a lot.

In all seriousness, though, I can't thank you enough. I love you all so very much!

Thank you so much for reading my story and I promise to update as soon as I can!

ps I didn't write an outline for this chapter so please tell me honestly if it sucks

-jo

pps I have a tumblr (oh no) and if you wanna follow me its: wobidobii dot tumblr dot com

ppps also please vote on the poll! Its very quite clear who's winning but I want to make sure I have everyone's opinion!


	14. Rimo gets uncomfortable

Ch. 14 - Rimo gets uncomfortable

"She's fine, for now. I asked Gray to make some ice chips; give them to her when she wakes up. It will soothe her throat, and I don't think she can handle liquids yet," Porlyusica said to the anxious blonde woman waiting outside the curtain. Lucy breathed a sigh of relief and buried her head in her hands. _'Ugh, thank god the guilds aren't in here right now…'_ she let herself think in slight embarrassment. Here she was, her close friend lying down from passing out in the bed next to her and she was worried about her appearance to her guild. _'God, I'm such a bitch…'_

Her thoughts were interrupted by a hand on her shoulder. "Lucy…" Porlyusica muttered. "She's sick," she informed.

Lucy peeled her hands off of her now panic stricken face. "You just said she was fine," she whispered back darkly. Was this a joke? Judging by the hard expression on Porlyusica's face, it was most definitely not a joke.

Porlyusica sighed. "She is, for now," she replied patiently. Lucy leaped from her chair.

"What do you mean by 'for now'?" She demanded anxiously.

"I mean, that she's got something strange going on in her body," Porlyusica muttered, seemingly irritated. "Something quite strange," she said, as the mage collapsed to the chair again.

Lucy had never felt so afraid to ask a question before, but she did it anyway. "Is… Is she going to be alright?"

Porlyusica looked Lucy dead in the eyes. "It seems to be incurable at the moment, and it's spreading quite rapidly, but I'll work on it," she replied flatly.

Lucy sat in her chair, not saying a word. She remained like that for some time, Porlyusica likewise. Minutes passed before Lucy finally got up, thanked Porlyusica, and reached for the curtain separating the two friends.

Just before Porlyusica left the infirmary, she heard Lucy utter something so quietly Porlyusica could barely hear it.

"Thank you."

Porlyusica stood in the doorway for a moment before leaving quietly.

Macarov was waiting outside the door. "Is she going to be alright?"

Porlyusica smiled softly. "Here you are again, caring for people that you barely know," she mumured, closing the door behind her. Macarov crossed his arms.

"Well?"

"She's incurable as of this moment," she stated bluntly.

"What? What type of disease could this be?" Macarov asked.

Porlyuisca sighed. "I am afraid I do not know; whoever did this to her was brutal and merciless."

Macarov frowned. "_Whoever?_ What do you mean by that?"

"What I mean is, that this 'disease'," she turned to face him. "Was inflicted on her. Most likely when she was not aware of it."

"Hm…" Macarov placed his hand on his chin.

"I will work on a cure, but I cannot guarantee it will work," she said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I will take my leave and begin to work on a cure in my home. You know how much I hate humans," she finished, striding quickly down the hall.

—

Lucy gently brushed Sakimo's wispy locks of hair out of her face. "What are you doing all the way here…?" Lucy muttered softly.

Much to her surprise, Sakimo's eyes fluttered open, and she began violently shaking and gasping for air. Lucy froze. Right, she was told to give Sakimo some ice chips when she woke up.

"Sakimo, it's me, Lucy," Lucy cooed. As soon as Sakimo's eye's caught hers, the aggressive shaking calmed. Lucy saw something… weird in her eyes. Urgency. Lucy brushed it off, deciding there were more important matters at hand. Like a close friend who just recovered from aggressively spasming.

"Here, I have some ice chips for you…" She picked up a small ice chip and placed it on Sakimo's tongue. She sucked on the ice chip greedily before opening her mouth, requesting another one. Lucy gently placed another ice chip on her awaiting tongue, but it was then that she noticed her throat was a strange… hue. It was tinted black, as if she had swallowed charcoal or something.

Sakimo finished the ice chip and opened her mouth for more, but Lucy declined. "I don't think you should eat so many at once." Lucy put down the bowl. "Now, I don't want to stress you out or anything, but," Lucy paused hesitantly, "Why did you come all the way here…?"

Sakimo suddenly shot up, clutching the sheets and her eyes, caked with fear, glanced around the room.

"Oh, god, I'm so sorry," Lucy said hurriedly. "It's fine, don't tell me until you're better." Lucy rubbed the girl's arms and slowly laid her back down, where Sakimo promptly fell asleep again.

Lucy sighed. What had made Sakimo come all this way? She was just itching to find out, but causing Sakimo more stress wasn't going to help her know any sooner. She got up and stepped quietly over to the door. She opened it quietly before turning to give the sleeping girl one last look before stepping through the doorway.

As soon as she stepped out Lucy grew suspicious. The guild was… unusually quiet. She glanced at a clock conveniently hanging over the hallway exit. Lucy's mouth dropped open.

"It's 2 am!" She exclaimed. That meant that Porlyuisca had spent almost half the day with Sakimo… and that Lucy had waited in that chair for half the day!

She bolted down the hallway and burst into the guild… Only to find a very little and quiet array of guild members, including the women of Night Pythoness, sleeping on the tables and chairs.

"Hey, who was that girl?"

The sudden voice almost caused Lucy to jump. _Almost._ She whipped around to come face to face with… Natsu.

She let out a relieved sigh. "It was just a friend I met during the time I was gone… I wonder what she came her for," Lucy said to herself. She was quiet for a couple minutes until she noticed Natsu staring intently at her.

"What?" She snapped.

Natsu either didn't notice her tone of voice or just chose to disregard it totally. "We didn't really get to spend much time with each other because you were busy catching up with everyone at the guild," he stated bluntly.

"Oh. Right." She recalled catching up with her former guildmates, and she realized that she indeed had not really hung out with Natsu that much. Nothing more then a occasional, 'Hey,' before another person would pull her to a table.

"So, uh, where's Happy?" She inquired, praying that that was a suitable conversation starter.

"He went home," he replied, leaning against the bar counter and crossing his arms behind his head.

"Ah. Why? Aren't you guys always together?"

Natsu looked at her like she had grown another arm. "I thought you were pretty smart, but I guess not," he said. Her face flashed with confusion. "It's two o'clock in the morning, Lucy," he finished, watching her facial expressions with great interest.

A light pink dusted across her cheeks. "R-right… So you… You stayed up for me?"

Natsu shrugged like it was no problem, spinning around to face her. "I would wait at your house, but you know," he murmured, stepping closer to her. Lucy backed up, and winced when she felt the counter behind her. He trapped her with his arms, placing them on either side of her, grasping the bar counter. Lucy's face felt so hot that she could probably cook a sausage on it.

When did Natsu learn to be so… sexy?

Lucy's face burned up even more when she thought that, and she pushed the thought out of her mind. Natsu's face was slowly moving closer and closer to her's. She froze. She didn't know what to do.

Until she just barely heard a very tiny, very quiet, minuscule snort.

Natsu and Lucy both jerked their heads away, and Natsu quickly removed his hands from the bar counter, putting his right hand behind his head and backing away from the counter awkwardly. Doing so, he crashed into a sleeping body on the ground and tripped.

Lucy, despite herself, allowed a small grin. She quickly wiped it off her face when she heard another giggle. The blonde narrowed her eyes, and tried to make herself look as menacing as physically possible. At once, the giggling stopped.

"You better come out now," she began, her voice hard. Whoever that was, they certainly didn't have the guts to come out. Lucy tried, deciding to try a different method. "How about this? You better come out now," she started, _"Before I have to come find you myself." _

Quickly and quietly, a small figure appeared in the shadows. Lucy squinted. Of course.

It was Lupa. "S-sorry Licia…"

"Go back to sleep," Lucy commanded.

"Y-yes Licia…" Lupa promptly heat up a space on the floor and curled up on the now warm spot.

Natsu grinned widely from his spot on the floor and chuckled. Lucy whirled around.

"The hell are you grinning at?" She yelled quietly, not wanting to wake anymore peeping eyes.

He laughed. "Nothin,'" he replied. "It's just that you act so mean but you're actually really considerate," he explained.

Lucy huffed, crossing her arms and turning away. "Whatever," she muttered. She couldn't help but allow a small smile to creep up on her face.

She wandered around to look for an empty space on the floor to sleep. Her guild was tough; and she refused to allow them to sleep in a hotel.

So they'd been sleeping on the floors of the Fairy Tail instead.

_—__The next morning— _

Lucy stirred to the sound of laughter. That didn't sound too bad, did it? Now picture this: Lucy stirred to the sound of maniacal laughter, and it wasn't just one person either. It was _whole group_ of people. And it sounded like they were attempting to stifle their laughter, but failing greatly. There were also flashes in her eyes.

_'__What the hell is goin' on…' _She thought. _'Whatever… I'm tired still.'_

"Ten more minutes…" She mumbled. The laughter suddenly died at the sound of her voice. She decided to think nothing of it and promptly rolled over, trying to face away from the strange flashes. She wrapped her arm around something, snuggling up closer to the heat source. The 'heat source' also wrapped an arm around her, pulling her in tightly.

"Mm," she murmured happily. So… warm… Wait.

Shit.

Her eyes snapped open. Her face was inches away from a certain dragon slayer's face. She squeaked - something she hadn't done in a long time - and swiftly rolled away and leapt up.

Natsu finally stirred and rolled onto his stomach, reaching his arm out and trying to grasp the empty place where Lucy was previously lying. "Why so early…?"

Lucy crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at the group of people, frozen with cameras in their hands. Discreetly, she gave Natsu a gentle kick. Natsu grunted and also stood.

"Oh, hey guys. Why're you all here so early?" He mumbled, stretching. He wandered over to the bar. Right before he asked if there was any food, he turned and smirked at Lucy, saying, "Hey, and Luce, you snore."

Lucy was just about to unleash her caged anger until she sensed something.

Embarrassing pictures forgotten, her eyes caught the silver eyes belonging to a very sick young woman, weakly standing in the doorway, using the doorframe as her support. Sakimo slowly reached out a trembling hand to Lucy, and she seemed to be holding a note.

And then she was falling.

"Sakimo!" Lucy screamed. In a flash, Lucy was by her side. She caught her just before gravity caught up with her. Lucy carefully laid her on the ground, cradling her head in her arms. "No, no, no…" Lucy whispered. "Why did you get up, why didn't you wait for me to check on you," she pleaded.

Sakimo desperately pressed the note into the palm of her hand. The silver eyes slowly begun to slip closed. _'Shit!' _Lucy thought. Not thinking, Lucy did what her instincts told her to.

She slapped Sakimo's face.

At once, Sakimo's eyes fluttered open and Lucy swore she saw the corners of her lips turn up.

Luckily, Porlyusica swept in out of nowhere and swiftly carried Sakimo back to the infirmary without a word.

Lucy sat on the ground for what felt like hours, sighing with relief, and clutching the note.

She slowly unfolded the note, seeing it to be surprisingly short. The writing was messy and sloppy, almost rivalling Natsu's chicken scratch writing. Her eyes widened as she read the five lone words on the sheet of paper.

_'__sandra is coming. be prepared.'_

Lucy glanced up at her guild, all 17 women surrounding her, already guessing what the note said. "We gotta talk," she whispered.

_— __Rimo and Sandra, on a train, 1 days into their trip —_

Rimo was sitting quite uncomfortably on his chair. He kept squirming around and wiggling. Sandra observed him with great amusement.

"Rimo, are you uncomfortable?" Sandra teased. He glanced up darkly.

"I'm just… Just not very used to chairs like this…" He muttered.

Sandra smiled. "Well you better get used to them. This trip lasts for about 8 days, I believe."

Rimo groaned.

**A/N**

**I don't own F.T. **

**holy shit I am so sorry. **

**Forgive me for not updating. There are reasons but it's partially my own fault and I feel like a shitty fuckface. **

**So also, I have an announcement to make.**

**I have midterms coming up (pls no) and my first one is Friday (PLS NO) so I don't know if I am able to update. (wow good job, Jo. Don't update for a month or something like that and tell your epic followers that I won't be able to update again. You should be called Jocrastinate.) **

**I will probably be writing in short bursts throughout the week of exams (much like I did for this chapter) so hopefully I'll have one chapter by the end of next week. **

**But also, thank you for waiting guys! I'm very very sorry! I'll work hard over the next week and bring you a new chapter. **

**I promise. (maybe) **

**As always, please review! (Feel so crappy for asking that rn) **

**\- Jo **


	15. It was like they were never there

Ch 15 - It was like they were never there

Secluded in a private room, Lupa crumpled into a ball. Rini put an arm around her comfortingly, albeit her face holding pure terror.

Lucy sat, clutching the crumpled note in her sweaty hands. Her eyes were blank.

"W-What should we do, Samantha? Do you think you could use your intelligence magic to come up with a strategy?" Lucy murmured, not really wanting to think.

Samantha went pale. "Uhm," she said, brushing a lock of red hair from her face. Her eyes went gold as she analyzed the situation. "Well, I believe she is expected to arrive in about a day or two. In other words, we don't have much time. I think the best we can do now is run, Licia." She shuffled her feet, her tall figure looking like it was going to topple at any given moment.

Lucy sighed. "We can't." The problem with Samantha's intelligence power is that it lacked emotion. She could only think about things in a mathematical sense, and if something went wrong in the emotional sense, well, it really went wrong. Samantha was really book-smart, not street smart.

"Why?"

"I can't just leave Fairy Tail. Sandra knows we're here. She might try and come after Fairy Tail as well."

Cydia punched the wall. Her strength magic went slightly out of control when she was angry. It was a bit strange to see a very petite 10 year old punching holes in the walls.

"Cydia! Calm down," Alice commanded, pulling her bright pink hair up into a ponytail. "We can't go bonkers now. We need to figure things out; formulate a plan to help both guilds."

Lucy frowned. Why was she angry? "Cydia, we're going to get through this," she said firmly. Lucy saw a small tear shed from her big indigo eyes.

"I… I don't get it."

Lucy's eyes softened. "What don't you get, sweetie?"

Cydia turned and stared at Lucy, a dark fire igniting in her eyes. "Why do you care so much about this random guild?"

The words hung in the air and the guild was silenced. Her simple words could mean so much. Lucy was speechless. "Huh?"

Tears spilled out of Cydia's dark eyes. "Why? What even is your real name? Licia? Or what these people call you, 'Lucy'? Do they even know that you're the leader of a Dark Guild? That's why you were hiding your insigna this whole time, right? You would pull your shirt down all the way to cover your lower back where it was… Why can't we be enough for you? " A knife sliced through her next words, making them broken and almost incomprehensible. "What if… What if you leave us too?"

Rini gasped. "Cydia! How could you say someth-"

"Shut up!" Cydia rammed her fist through another wall. "You must feel the same way too, right? You must have thought about it one moment or another while we were staying here!" She screamed, her voice cracking. Rini looked down shamefully.

Lucy grasped Cydia's shoulders, and knelt down. "Cydia, honey, I'll never leave you. You guys are like my extended family or something." She took a deep breath. "You know what," she decided, "I'm going to tell you guys everything."

Cydia looked up. "Everything?"

Lucy nodded firmly. "You guys let me stay as your guild master even though you know nothing of my past, so why not now?"

Samantha shook her head. "We don't have time, Licia. We need to formulate a plan."

Lucy shook her head. "No. I should have told you guys years ago. It's now or never. And by the way, they do know about this guild being a dark guild," she smirked. Lucy exhaled slowly and began her story. "I joined this guild about four years ago, when I was eighteen. I… I felt weak so I… I left to become stronger."

"_You? _You felt _weak?_" Rini gawked.

Lucy chuckled. "Yeah. I… I was really weak back then," she confessed.

"No," Lupa said, cutting in suddenly. "You were never weak," she murmured.

Lucy just smiled softly and continued.

Twenty minutes later, Lucy finished her story, right up till now. "So uh, yeah," she finished lamely. Of course, she left out some certain parts, like the part where she and Natsu… did that thing in Minno.

Cydia sat cross legged on the floor, her head down. "I'm… sorry, Licia. I didn't… I didn't know it was like that…"

Lucy smiled and rested her hand on Cydia's shoulder. "It's not a problem at all, Cydia."

A small sob broke out and Cydia hugged Lucy, almost squeezing the air out of her.

"Sooo, uh, sorry to break up this bonding moment, but we really need to make a plan right now," Samantha interrupted slowly.

Lucy paused. "Right. Okay. Uh," Lucy muttered.

"Licia, what if we just stay here?" Lupa suggested, calming down a bit.

Lucy shook her head. "No can do Lu - Wait a minute." Lucy paused, and reassessed the situation. "Wait… Why the hell are we freaking out?"

"Huh?" Rini blurted stupidly.

A smile lit up on Lucy's face. "Why are we making a mountain out of a molehill? It's not a big deal, right?"

Samantha stared at Lucy like she was insane. "Are you okay, Licia?"

"No, listen, it's so stupid," Lucy exclaimed. "We obviously failed to realize that it's literally just _two people_ coming right? And one of those two doesn't even use magic!"

Realization dawned on all of the girls.

"But, hey, what will we do now? If Fairy Tail sees her…" Junna said skeptically. Lucy turned to Junna.

"Exactly," Lucy said. "I've got an idea."

—

None of the guild members really liked her idea, but it was literally the only safe option.

Well, for the guilds, that is.

Lucy was to meet Sandra herself, at the train station. She would first get Makarov to clear the stations and cancel all other trains, because crap would probably hit the fan. Then she would try to persuade Sandra, but if she couldn't…. Well, she would have Emerald and her spirits.

Just in case, she was putting Night Pythoness into her old apartment. She convinced the landlady to let them stay for the day. So, if Sandra somehow did get past her, she wouldn't know where to find them, and maybe they could escape.

Of course, that was the last resort.

"Luce!" Lucy turned away from her Night Pythoness, feeling her cheeks heat up a little bit at the voice. Pam snickered.

"What?"

"C'mere."

Lucy felt her face go red. Really red. She decided to pay him back for earlier. "No," she replied indignantly, crossing her arms.

Natsu pouted. "Why?" He asked childishly.

Lucy shuffled her feet. "Why should I be the one to move?" Too late, she realized her mistake.

Natsu grinned. "Well, I'm just gonna have to come to you then!" He growled, advancing with a step.

Lucy stepped back. "Uh, I take that back!"

"Too late!" He yelled, leaping from his spot to hers.

"Kya!" She squeaked. For some reason, her feet didn't let her dodge.

He landed right on top of her. He pinned her to the floor. Lucy knew she could throw him off if she wanted too, but she wanted to see what he had to say about this behaviour.

Strangely enough, she didn't see a grin or a smile, or anything of the sort for that matter. Instead, his face was… troubled.

"Luce… I just don't think your idea is the best one," he muttered.

Lucy sighed. "Yeah, I don't either."

Confusion was etched across Natsu's face. "Then why're you going?" He asked rolling off and sitting crosslegged in front of her.

"Because," she smiled, "It's the only and best choice for the safety of both guilds."

Natsu shook his head, "No, it's not. Let that wench come here! Fairy Tail is the strongest guild! We can easily take on one woman."

Lucy chuckled. "I can't drag Fairy Tail into my problems."

Natsu pouted, but he knew she wasn't going to budge. Gray appeared.

"Lucy, I don't think you're idea is the best," he confessed.

"Oi! Ice princess! Don't go stealing my sentence!"

"Huh? I didn't steal nothing! Don't go accusing me of random things! Wanna go? Huh?"

"Yeah, come at me!"

"Juvia will help Gray fight!"

"Mira-nee? Let's get Natsu to kiss Lucy before she leaves."

"Like a man!"

Lucy smiled as she watched the guild. Her family. This was just like old times. Just like old times…

— _The next day _—

Lucy stood in the guild doorway. "If… If don't come back by the end of the day or you see an explosion of sorts… Come down to the station, okay?" She instructed.

Lupa had tears in her eyes. "Are you sure you don't want us to come?"

Lucy hugged Lupa. "You know the answer to that," she answered. "Hey, don't worry guys! I'll be fine. I'll kick her ass for you, alright?"

Pam smiled, touching the doorway, also slightly deforming it.

"Uh, Pam, don't use your magic on the doorway please," Lucy chuckled. Sometimes when Pan got nervous or sad when she touched things she would absentmindedly use her manipulation magic on it.

"Oh! Sorry Licia."

One by one, Lucy said a casual goodbye to her guild.

Lupa, Rini, Junna, Pam, Luna, Cydia, Olivia, Samantha, Itia, Claudia, Madilyn, Amelia, Gunner, Sophie, Telli, Alice, and Blaze. These 17 women met her one day and decided on a whim that she was going to lead them. And Lucy was glad. She didn't regret any of it.

Lucy turned to her old guild. She didn't even get a word out before they all began talking at the same time.

"Come back, alright!"

"Fight like a man!"

"I'll take you out for cake later when you get back," Erza smiled.

Natsu grinned. "Kick her ass for me, will yah?"

"Will do," Lucy grinned.

Sakimo came stumbling out, pushing her way through the crowd. Lucy hugged the slender woman.

"Sakimo… Get the hell back in bed," Lucy commanded. "Also... I can't thank you enough. I promise when I get back I'll personally take you back to the village!"

Sakimo grinned weakly.

"Gray! Take her back to the sick room before the collapses," Lucy ordered.

Gray nodded, picking the sick girl up in his arms. She fell asleep immediately.

"L-l-love Rival!" Juvia stuttered, following them into the room.

"Do it now, Natsu!" Mira called.

"Now?"

"Yup!"

"Do what now?" Lucy frowned. She didn't like the gleam in Mira's eyes.

"Okay, if you say so!" Natsu replied. Lucy didn't have time to react before he quickly leaned in and gave her a peck on her cheek. She felt her face heat up. She heard snickers and catcalls behind her.

"Not _there_ Natsu, I said on her lips!"

"Yeah, but, I don't think Lucy would like that," he replied sheepishly.

"You're damn right I wouldn't want that!" Lucy screamed, punching him into oblivion.

—

Lucy finally managed to tear herself away from from the guild and was now making her way down to the station. She arrived fairly quickly.

Emerald sat outside. "I… I'll be back Emer. I promise…" Lucy whispered. Emerald purred. Lucy ventured into the train station.

It was completely empty, with one or two stray newspapers lying here and there. There was a slight breeze that whispered against Lucy's bare neck, sending shivers up Lucy's spine.

She waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Before she knew it, it was dark.

Lucy frowned and exited the station. Emerald lay outside, his huge ears perking up when he saw her. He looked confused. "Yeah… I'm confused too…" She murmured, stroking his nose. "Why didn't she show? There's no way she chickened out… Sam said she was due to arrive today, and Sam is never wrong."

She paused. "Oh, my god," she muttered numbly. "Emerald, run like hell to the apartment. Now!" She felt a lump in her stomach. "Oh, god, please, no, please, don't let it be true..."

Emerald blasted through the town, and they finally arrived at the building. Lucy bolted up the stairs, and threw open the doors to her old apartment.

A cold draft blew through the open window.

_"Hey, Licia! Did you beat Sandra?" _

_"Hey, you're back, Licia. Is she gone?" _

_"Licia! I'm so glad you're back! We were so worried about you!" _

Lucy wished she could see her sisters, scattered about the room. Lucy wished she could feel Lupa's arms around her waist. Lucy wished she could see Cydia's deep indigo eyes and Alice's pink hair. A small sob escaped from Lucy's throat.

But the room was cold, dark and empty. Lucy's knees collapsed and she fell to the floor.

A heart wrenching cry was heard slicing through the town that night.

**A/N Important PLEASE READ! :D:D**

HI GUYS I'M SO SORRY PLEASE FORGIVE ME AND SEND ME ALL THE FLAMES THAT YOU WANT BECAUSE GOD KNOWS I FREAKING DESERVE THEM!  
ALSO:  
I HAVE AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT  
I'm going on hiatus. I'm so very actually very so much very sorry. SEND ME ALL THE MURDER THREATS THAT YOU WANT BC I DESERVE THEM. :D :D :D  
Also, if you want to know why, PM me! PLEASE I REALLY WANT TO TELL YOU but I just don't want to post it here. (I really want to tell you guys why but PM for the answer because it's personal stuff lmao. SO PM ME! I don't wanna post my reasons here because it's really public and I only want people who actually want to know to know.) I don't know how long I'll be on hiatus, but I may be releasing scattered chapters every now and then. So, I guess it would be a semi-hiatus.  
Anyway, thank you all so much! I'm so sorry also but hey! Look forward to new chapters!  
And thank you all so much. You all waited so patiently for a new chapter and instead you get this crap. I feel so bad for giving you this and getting your hopes up for a new chapter and everything.

Jo (The fuckface lmao)


	16. They found an old blue ribbon

Ch 16 - They found an old blue ribbon

\- Strong language later in the chapter but does it matter? -

_-A day earlier, around 5:00 pm-_

_-Sandra and Rimo-_

Rimo scuffed his worn sandals on the dirt path.

"Why did we get off at a stop too early?"

"I thought you wanted to get off?"

"That is a different story. I know you'd rather ride on the train. Now tell me, why did we get off at an earlier stop?"

Sandra's cherry red lips froze on her face. "I… don't want to lie to you, Rimo."

"Then don't lie," he said weakly. Sandra looked at him, long and hard. She saw his worsened posture and the drag in his step. For the first time, the woman realized just how broken he was. Broken because of her selfish wants.

Sandra frowned. Rimo was the only person, aside from her dead parents, that she would never intend to hurt. "I… I have eyes in the guild."

Rimo stopped walking. His eyes went dark. "You have a mole in Night Pythoness?"

Sandra nodded. She kept walking.

"Who?" It sounded more like a demand then a question.

"Excuse me?" Sandra stopped walking and turned to face Rimo's fixated figure.

"Who. Is. It," Rimo demanded, stepping closer.

"Does it matter to you?" Sandra purred. "It's not like you know any of them anyway."

Rimo stiffened. He resumed his pace. "Well, why are we getting off at an earlier stop? What did your… informant… say? You can tell me that, right?"

Sandra smiled. "The woman wants to fight me for the guild," she said with a toss of her silky hair.

Rimo scowled. "So? Isn't that what you wanted?"

"Yes, but I thought why not save her the trouble and just gather up my girls without having to hurt her physically in any way?" She turned around and began walking away, feeling sick in the stomach.

Sandra felt a pair of arms wrap around her shoulders from behind.

"Thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me. Really." His voice was muffled by Sandra's jacket.

Sandra smiled.

A real smile.

Of course, she didn't have to tell him that nothing would hurt her more then having Night Pythoness being taken away from her right under her nose. Physical pain was nothing compared to that pain. Sandra knew first hand. Her alibi on the other side had told her that she treated her guild mates just like family.

Sandra knew how much it hurt to have your family taken away right in front of you, when there was nothing you could do to help it.

Oh, god, that feeling would harden your heart and then it would shatter it into fragments so small there was no chance of ever bandaging it back up.

Just like it had done to Sandra.

_\- Magnolia, p__resent time, around 12 am -_

_\- Gray, Erza, Levy, Happy, Wendy, Carla, Mira, Lissana and Elfman -_

_\- The east forest - _

"Lucy!"

"Lushee!"

"Lu-chan!"

"Oi! What's goin on, Happy?" Natsu called, strolling down the pathway. Something about his voice seemed… robotic. "Why're you all in the forest? It's really late. Or early. Whichever," he muttered. "And I heard you guys calling for Lucy," he said suspiciously. "Why're you lookin' for her? Where did she go?"

Levy shuffled her feet nervously. "Uh, hey Natsu," she greeted.

Happy flew up to the man nervously. "Natsu… You're not going to like what you're about to hear," Happy whispered. "Lushee…. never came back from the train station."

Natsu eyed the guild members. "What are you saying? Spit it out." His movements were jerky, and he avoided everyone's eye contact, as if looking into their eyes would kill him.

"She never came back," Grey repeated.

Erza quickly reequipped and drew her sword, knowing he was about to blow.

Instead he started laughing. Laughter that was born in his throat and died before it reached his lips. The forced, distorted type of laughter. "Of course she never came back! Obviously, she defeated the wench and is now resting with those girls! She's gonna be tired. Leave her alone, jeez, everyone needs their rest. She's probably just bragging about her victory to the girls," he yelled, being louder then he intended. "Why do you guys worry so much?" He hollered, feeling something weird deep in his stomach.

"Natsu… She's not in the apartment," Gray said gently, knowing this wasn't the time to joke around. Natsu stared at the dark haired mage.

"O-Of course she is, don't fool around, Ice Princess," he stammered. He scuffled around uneasily.

"Natsu-san… We went to the apartment to check on the guild and see if Lucy was maybe done because it was getting late and… well, we were getting worried," Wendy piped in. "We found… this…" Her tiny hand opened to reveal a blue ribbon.

Natsu snatched it away, and he turned his head. He smelled it. "I can't smell anything. How do you know it's hers anyway? She doesn't wear that type of stuff anymore, it could be anyones."

Erza looked down. "It's hers, and you know it," she said harshly. "We can assume she kept it for… memories."

"We don't know where she of the guild are. The only thing we can assume is… the woman must have won," Erza said, for once feeling helpless. She stared down at the ground, not feeling the courage to look into the man's broken eyes.

He knew it, but he forced himself not to believe it. "Don't say it…" Natsu muttered.

"She's…" Erza choked out. Gray turned away. Mira and Lissanna buried their heads in Elfman's chest. Levy hugged Wendy, who was covering her ears, forcing herself not to hear the words that she knew Erza was going to say.

Just two simple words had the power to cut them open where the flesh was the most sensitive. Nobody wanted to hear the words being spoken.

Somehow… it made it seem all the more real.

Natsu fell to his knees, his eyes burning. He felt like throwing up. "Don't," he whispered brokenly.

Erza knew she had to get it out. "She's dead, Natsu," she stated flatly. It was like someone shot a bullet right to his chest. Her words were stone cold. She said it like she was reading it from a script, expressionless and wooden. Her eyes were lifeless, but tears flowed freely down her cheeks, dripping to the floor.

Wendy began sobbing uncontrollably into Levy's dress. Levy held the girl tightly, crying silently. She didn't want to make the girl feel worse.

Mira and Lissanna both weeped into Elfman's chest. Elfman's eyes were glassy and he was whispering to himself, 'Men don't cry, men don't cry, men don't cry…' He repeated the same phrase, like a chant.

Then Gray. Standing alone, facing away from the party. He tried desperately to remain stoic, but his eyes were a dam that threatened to burst. One hand over his mouth, and the other shoved in his pocket. A wooden statue.

And then there was Natsu.

Crouched in a ball on the ground, trying desperately, so hopelessly to control his emotions.

He didn't remain that way for long.

"You don't have to be dead…" he whispered, "to be dead inside."

Erza wiped the tears from her face, but her eyes remained glassy. "…What?"

Slowly, he looked up. His eyes glowed red. Tears flowed freely down his angered face; his eyes looked like a melting sun. "Shit…" Gray muttered.

Instantly, the guild braced themselves, drying tears from their eyes. It wasn't the time to cry, not yet.

None of them expected it to be that strong.

It was like his entire heart exploded, razor-edged tiny fragments flying everywhere.

"I TOLD YOU. I TOLD YOU NOT TO SAY IT," he roared, fire spewing out of his mouth.

"Natsu! Control yourself!" Erza demanded as Mira transformed into her Satan's Soul. _'Natsu is broken hearted… He's fuelled by his anger,'_ Erza thought.

"Why? Why? Why!? WHY?!" He screamed. His body burst into flames. "I'll kill that bitch! I'll fucking kill her!" He bellowed. He began shooting flames everywhere blindly. Levy and Wendy quickly got out of harm's way, with Happy's help.

"Natsu…" Happy exclaimed worriedly.

"Natsu! Get yourself together!" Mira yelled, going in for an attack.

Natsu's head snapped up, looking like a rabid animal going in for the kill. Mira suddenly realized that this was a fight that she couldn't win. Not with this form, at least. She barely managed to dodge his enhanced attack.

"Ice Make: Cage!" Gray yelled. A large cage materialized around Natsu. Natsu screamed in anger, bashing himself repeatedly against the ice cage.

"Shit… That's not gonna hold for long," he muttered, noticing the cage rapidly melting as cracks bloomed across the ice. "Erza! You gotta do something!"

"I have a plan!" She assured him. "Mira, do it now!" Mira nodded firmly, starting her transformation.

Natsu wasn't just an animal.

He was a caged animal, and he wanted to get out. He screamed incomprehensible words and phrases, throwing himself against the cage, unaware of the bruises and cuts he was getting while doing so. Tears bled from his eyes.

"Mira…?! Whatever you're gonna do, you better do it now!" Gray shouted, eyeing the splitting cage.

Mira nodded quickly and began to transform.

'_She's gonna transform into Lucy,'_ Grey realized. _'Damn… it feels slightly immoral but it's a good plan… It's really the only thing we can do for him right now…'_

The cage gave way just as a familiar voice began to speak. A woman with short blonde hair and a dark leather jacket appeared. _'Jeez, transformation is pretty handy,'_ Gray snickered, despite an enraged Natsu on the verge of killing them all.

"I'm here, Natsu."

The flames dispersed almost as instantly as it started. "Lu…cy…?" He choked out, his voice sore from the constant screaming. He breathed heavily. He dragged his way up to the blonde woman. The glow in his eyes slowly died out.

"I'm here…" She repeated.

His mouth turned up in a relieved smile. "Th… Thank Mavis… I… I thought you were really gone for a while there," he chuckled sadly, placing both hands on the woman's cheeks. He pressed his forehead against hers. The woman smiled sadly.

"I'm going to have to leave soon…" She murmured. "I'm sorry, but I have to do this…"

"Eh?"

He fell to the forest floor, knocked out cold.

Gray gulped. He squatted down in front of the mage, peering at him suspiciously. He poked his forehead and then braced himself. Luckily, the man didn't stir. Gray breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank god we got rid of that dumbass," Gray muttered.

He hopped up and turned to face Lucy, or Mira. "Thanks Mira. You really saved our hides back there. I think he's out, you can change back now," he said, throwing a limp Natsu over his shoulder.

She looked down to the ground.

"Mira-nee? What's wrong?" Lisanna asked worriedly.

"Guys…" A silvery voice whispered from behind them. Lisanna recognized the voice instantly.

She would know, because it was her sister.

"Guys…" She said again. "I'm over here…" Mira said numbly, standing behind everyone.

Gray, Erza, Levy, Happy, Wendy, Carla, Mira, Lissana and Elfman turned toward the silvery voice.

Gray slowly turned toward the blonde woman as realization hit the guild members.

"I'm not dead, you idiots."

_\- Shortly after -_

"Wow. We really are idiots," Gray blurted, dropping Natsu. Erza stomped on his foot, noticing the distressed look on Lucy's face.

"We're glad to have you back, Lucy," Erza smiled.

"Lushee…!" Happy wailed. "I thought you were gone! I'm so happy, Lushee!"

Mira wiped tears from her eyes. "That was quite surprising."

Carla smiled, hugging Wendy. "We… We really thought you were gone for a sec there."

They continued their ecstatic rejoicing until Lucy finally let her façade crack.

"Why're you so… happy?" Lucy whispered.

Levy smiled brightly. "O-of course we're happy! I mean, you're here now, right?" She said desperately. "Everything's gonna be grea-"

"My guild is gone," she muttered. "So tell me: Why the hell are you so happy?"

Levy stopped. "H-huh?"

Lucy looked up, tempestuous rage boiling in her eyes. "Get out of my way," she whispered.

They were shocked at this sudden change of attitude. She wasn't even crying.

Happy laughed nervously. "What's wrong, Lucy?" He shuffled his feet on the forest floor.

"I lost them! Right under my fucking nose!" She screamed. "They depended on me, and I lost them!"

Gray grabbed Lucy's shoulders, shaking her. "It wasn't your fault, Lucy. Somebody in Night Pythoness must have been working with whoever that lady was," he insisted. "It wasn't your fault," he finished firmly, but her ears were deaf to his words.

Lucy threw him off with surprising force. "Stop feeding me your sympathy! I know all you ever did was pity me! Right from the fucking beginning!" She cried. "It was all my fault! Everything is my fault," she shouted.

Levy let her slim shoulders slump, already feeling defeated. "It's not your fau-"

"SHUT UP," Lucy shrieked. "Stop saying that it's not my fault! I wanted to get back at her; I wanted to fight her! We should have just fucking ran! Oh, my god, what have I done?" Her voice cracked. Her legs collapsed beneath her as she buried her face in her hands.

"I gotta go get them back…" She mumbled. "I gotta save them…" She was no longer explosive mess she was a couple seconds ago. She was just… broken.

Nobody dared say anything, and all you could hear was the occasional tweeting of birds and the breeze whistling in your ears.

Until a sharp, high whistle severed the blanket of silence.

A pair of emerald eyes appeared.

Erza knew what this meant. "You can't go looking for them in that state!" She exclaimed.

Lucy stared right into Erza's eyes. Erza blinked, disbelief clouding her.

Why? There was not one ounce of emotion in those eyes. They were a cold, dead brown.

She silently climbed atop Emerald, who looked slightly confused.

Levy started to protest but Gray stopped her. "She's done," he whispered.

"We can't just give up on her!" Wendy exclaimed. "We can get her back!"

Erza stepped in. "We're not giving up," she muttered.

"We're letting her go," Mira finished.

A breeze blew on them as Emerald streaked away.

"W-what's going on…?"

Gray glanced at the body on the ground. How were they going to break the news to him?

"Natsu. You feelin' alright?"


End file.
